


Love and Death(stroke)

by theholyholtby



Series: Nightwing and Starfire [1]
Category: DCU, Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: Action & Romance, F/M, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:02:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 54,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24715024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theholyholtby/pseuds/theholyholtby
Summary: It has been two years since Dick Grayson last worked with the Titans, and he and Barbara have settled into life together.However, when he receives a message from Jump City, detailing that Slade Wilson has returned, he is forced to confront a lot of suppressed memories - including those of his former love, Koriand'r...
Relationships: Barbara Gordon/Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson/Koriand'r
Series: Nightwing and Starfire [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2117499
Comments: 65
Kudos: 47





	1. An Uneasy Feeling

**Author's Note:**

> This is ultimately going to be a Dick Grayson/Koriand'r fic, so apologies if you were looking for a Dick/Barbara fic.
> 
> Also, I don't actually know that much about DCU, so please excuse any glaring continuity mistakes. I just really like the Dick/Kori ship.  
> Please enjoy!

There was something wrong in the world, and Dick Grayson knew it. He couldn’t quite pinpoint what, or where, or who, but he had a distinctly uncomfortable feeling thrashing around in his gut. Not the most beneficial thing when one is jumping about rooftops, patrolling Gotham, but he supposed he’d have to deal with it.

He pulled his hood up, further around his face. He still wasn’t sold on the idea of the hood on his costume, but Barbara had said she really liked it.

“What’s up, grumpy?” asked a voice from next to Dick’s ear, making him jump slightly.

He snapped his head to the left, relaxing only when he saw Batgirl standing on the roof beside him.

“I don’t know how you’re so quiet, Barbara, but you scared the crap out of me,” Dick said, scrunching his face at the amused grin on Barbara’s face.

“No, no, I’m Batgirl while we’re on the clock,” Barbara said teasingly, “Your wonderful and amazing girlfriend, Barbara, does not make an appearance until we’re back at Wayne Manor.”

“Shut up,” Dick tried to say grumpily, but even he could hear the fondness in his voice.

“But seriously, what’s up?” Barbara asked again.

“I don’t know, I just feel… uneasy,” Dick replied, cursing how stupid he sounded.

Barbara, fortunately, didn’t mock him for it, instead rubbing his back.

“Well, hey, we’ve only got another block before Batman and Robin take over, so why don’t we get that finished, and go home and relax?”

Dick gave her a grateful smile. She really had been one of the best parts of his life over the past two years. He looked at the gap between this roof and the next, deciding that he could make the jump. With a leap, he made it, hearing the flutter of Barbara’s cape as she followed him.

***

The last block didn’t take too long to patrol, which was why Dick now found himself sitting on Barbara’s couch, eating chocolate ice-cream straight from the tub. There was some completely pointless reality show on the television. Barbara was sitting next to him, reading something on her tablet. Occasionally she looked up to send a disapproving look at Dick’s eating habits, to which he only grinned.

They had been sitting there for around twenty minutes when Barbara placed her tablet down, and turned to Dick.

“Are you still feeling uneasy?” she asked, her voice soft.

Dick appreciated her concern, but the main point of sitting in front of the TV and eating ice-cream was to forget about feeling in the pit of his stomach that was getting worse and worse by the minute.

“Yeah,” he eventually said, because he couldn’t really keep anything from Barbara, “I wish I knew what it meant.”

With an over-exaggerated sigh, he leant back against the couch, eyes closed. Being Nightwing was stressful enough without his stomach playing mutiny. Barbara must have sensed his frustration, because Dick felt a warm hand grasp his own.

“Don’t bottle it up, Dick,” she murmured.

“I’m not bottling it up!” Dick shouted, losing his temper. He stopped himself from saying any more, realising he was getting unnecessarily angry. This was Barbara. She just wanted to see him happy.

“Sorry,” Dick mumbled.

“It’s okay. Maybe it’s just stomach flu or something?” Barbara responded, giving him a hint of a smile.

Dick smiled back, trying to convey reassurance. Maybe it was just stomach flu. He doubted it, though. Life was never that easy.

***

Unfortunately for Dick, a good night of rest did nothing to help; it seemed to make him feel even worse. Despite Barbara’s insistence that he stay home (“I can patrol by myself, Dick, it’s not that hard,” she had said, and while she wasn’t wrong, Dick didn’t like the idea of leaving her by herself), Dick had managed to convince her to let him join her on patrol.

Dick tried to ignore the gross swirling in his stomach as he leapt across the Gotham rooftops, eyes peeled on the ground, prepared for any trouble. In the corner of his eye, he saw Barbara doing the same, except she was using her grappling gun to pull herself across. She wasn’t quite the gymnast that Dick was.

Despite his stomach issues, Dick was pleased with how the patrol was going. There were no signs of any trouble and relative peace on the streets. _Maybe Batman is doing too good a job in Gotham_ , he thought to himself, _because the patrols are getting boring at this point_.

A sudden kick into his side tore Dick out of his thoughts. Thrown off course mid-leap, he collided with a fire escape on the building he was leaping to. Pain exploded down his side with the collision. Dick grimaced, looking up to see where the attack came from. Perhaps he had spoken too soon about boring patrols.

Standing on the rooftop Dick had tried to jump to was a man in a black jumpsuit, with a metal helmet on his head. The whole ensemble looked vaguely familiar to Dick; he’d seen it before, but he couldn’t place where.

A cry of pain pulled Dick out of his thoughts. It was Barbara. Turning around, he saw Barbara get kicked into a wall by another man, wearing the same attire as his own attacker. Dick felt a surge of anger; no one kicks his girlfriend around. With a wordless battle cry, he pulled the two escrima sticks off his back and leapt into battle.

Shouting one’s intentions to join a battle was nice in theory, but it completely ruined any chance of Dick’s attack being a surprise. The man turned away from Barbara, cleverly moving his body to the left. Dick harmlessly passed by him, and was sent further on his way with a kick planted into his back. He hit another wall.

 _Ouch_. Not his smartest plan of attack. Batman would not have been impressed by that. Dick could almost hear the tut-tutting of disapproval. Pushing himself up, Dick turned to face Barbara’s assailant, escrima sticks at the ready.

The man that attacked Dick jumped into the fight as well. Dick knew he was a good fighter, but these two were clearly trained as well, and he wasn’t sure he could take both while making sure Barbara remained safe. A quick glance in Barbara’s direction showed him that she was still slumped against the wall. Gritting his teeth, he held his escrima sticks out, daring the men to attack first.

One of them did, charging forward. Dick let him get carried away with his momentum, before executing a swift pirouette and slamming the back of the man’s helmet with one of his escrima sticks. The blow made a sickening crunch as it connected, and the man stumbled forward, losing his balance. 

Dick pressed his advantage. Using all the various acrobat techniques he knew, Dick jumped against the wall, coming down on the man with increased force before he could react. The downwards slam with both of Dick’s escrima sticks was enough to crumple the man’s helmet, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Dick grinned, despite the situation.

His pleasure was short lived. The other man, who Dick had forgotten about, tackled him to the ground. Winded, Dick tried to twist around to force the man off him. Flexible as he was, the man was heavier, trapping him against the cold concrete, slowly squeezing the air out of his lungs. Wriggling some more, Dick managed to get an arm free from underneath him. He scrabbled his hand around, finding one of his escrima sticks. He tightened his hand around it and used it to leverage a twist underneath the man. As he turned to face his attacker, he brought the escrima stick down hard on the man’s back. The man shouted in pain and rolled off Dick, freeing him.

Able to move his body parts again, Dick grabbed his other escrima stick and stood in an attack stance. His opponent stood as well, sliding out two daggers from his boots. They tentatively circled each other, eyes locked, daring the other to attack. Dick was the first to break, feinting forward with his right arm, before swiftly pulling it back, side-swiping with his left. The man saw it coming, throwing up a dagger to block the attack. He countered with a stab of his other dagger, forcing Dick to jump backwards and disengage.

“You’re good,” Dick said, keeping his distance, “who are you working for?”

“That doesn’t matter, Wingdings,” the man grunted back.

“It’s Nightwing,” Dick said, rolling his eyes, “Screw me for trying to have a conversation, right?”

With that, Dick leapt at the man, swinging his escrima sticks together to hit both sides of the man’s head. The man blocked the attack with his daggers, then shifted backwards out of Dick’s range. Before Dick could adjust, the man spun forward and crouched, stabbing upwards with his daggers. Dick managed to half-turn to the right, dodging the attack, before countering with a lunge of his own. Any hopes of catching the man with his guard down were snuffed when he managed to swiftly turn, parrying the attack with his daggers. Dick jumped back again, preventing a counter-attack.

“Okay, so you won’t tell me who you’re working for,” Dick said, “How about reminding me why I vaguely recognise your uniform?”

“Fighting doesn’t usually have this much talking,” the man replied.

“Maybe I like to treat fights as a possible meet cute?” Dick teased.

Before the man could give any sort of response, he suddenly straightened and fell forwards onto the ground. Standing where the man had been was Barbara, holding a piece of metal pipe.

“A meet cute? I think I might have something to say about that,” she said, a smile tugging at her lips.

“Ah, good to see you’ve re-joined us in the land of the living, Batgirl,” Dick said.

“Shut up and help me tie these guys up,” Barbara said grumpily, but Dick could see the smile in her eyes.

“Yes ma’am.”

***

“They’re foot soldiers of the Light,” Batman said, looking over the two men. Dick had called him once they were incapacitated, hoping he would know more.

“The Light? What’s that?” Dick asked.

“A group of operatives that work in the shadows, manipulating events to their own benefit. They’ve been on the Justice League’s radar for a while now, but we’ve never been able to capture any of them,” Batman paused. “Until now, that is.”

“Why attack Nightwing and I? Why risk exposure like this?” Barbara said.

“I don’t know,” Batman said, “But Robin and I can finish this patrol. You two go home and rest.”

Dick didn’t like the frown on Batman’s face; he was used to the detective knowing everything. But he was just as confused. It seemed very reckless of such a shadowy organisation to try and attack himself and Barbara in the middle of Gotham. Even if it had worked, Batman would have found them quickly. Gotham was his city and he knew everything that happened within it.

“Okay, B, good luck with the rest of the patrol. Say hi to Robin for me,” Dick said, shaking himself out of his thoughts.

Batman simply nodded as Dick leapt to the next rooftop, already plotting the quickest route to Barbara’s place. He actively did _not_ notice the way his stomach turned at the night’s events.

***

“How’s your head?” Dick asked, walking into Barbara’s lounge with two cups of hot cocoa. Normally neither of them drank the stuff, but it had felt like the sort of night for it to Dick.

“It’s been better, but it’s also been worse,” Barbara said, holding the ice pack tightly to the back of her head.

“Hopefully this horrendously sweet cocoa will help.”

“I doubt it.”

“Oh, ye of little faith.”

Barbara giggled as he sat next to her on the couch, placing the two mugs on the table in front of them. He looked over his girlfriend. Despite being knocked unconscious, she looked to be in good condition. Other than the ice pack on her head, of course.

Dick was about to make a comment about the evening’s battle when a loud beeping broke the silence. He was shocked to notice that it was coming from the Titans communicator on his phone. Holding his phone up, he looked worriedly at Barbara. Her expression was as shocked as he felt.

“This hasn’t gone off once in the two years since I left,” Dick said, slightly awed.

“Are you going to answer it?” Barbara asked, voice hushed.

He gave her a slight shrug. It reflected his feelings. The Titans were his past. Answering the call would drag him back into that world, back into the world where he and Kori – no. He was not going to think about her. That part of his life was over.

He put his phone down, and grabbed his mug, sipping the cocoa. Hopefully the beeping would stop sometime soon, because it was getting slightly annoying. He didn’t look at Barbara, but he could feel her curious gaze on him nonetheless. He tried to ignore it. It was all something he didn’t want to talk about with her, not yet.

The beeping stopped.

“They left a message,” Barbara said.

“What?”

“Look, right here.”

Dick put his mug down and grabbed his phone from Barbara’s hands. Sure enough, there was a message displayed in full view on the lock screen. Despite himself, he read it, and his breath caught. His stomach felt like it was doing a series of flips. _Guess I know what that uneasy feeling was about_ , he thought.

“Dick? What is it?” Barbara asked, worry present in her voice. She had clearly noticed the change in his demeanour.

There were a couple of seconds of silence as Dick tried to find his voice.

“Slade Wilson has returned,” he finally said, very faintly.

It appeared that part of his life was not over yet.


	2. Titans Tower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick and Barbara arrive at Titans Tower. Dick faces a lot of the memories of why he left, including Kori...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prepare yourself for angsty!Dick, you have been warned.

Titans Tower had barely changed in the two years since Dick had last seen it. Towering over the Jump City skyline, even on its offshore island, the distinctive structure cast a large T-shaped shadow over the coast. Dick walked up the steps towards the building’s entrance, looking up at the building looming over him. He felt a bump against his shoulder, and turned to see Barbara looking at him. She had insisted on coming along, and Dick couldn’t say no to her. If he was honest with himself, he was glad she was here; her emotional support had been a crucial part of him making it through leaving the Titans in the first place.

“Are you going to be okay?” she asked.

“I hope so,” Dick said, with half a laugh. Barbara gave him a disapproving look, so Dick tried again, more seriously.

“Yeah, I think I will be. But if not, I’ve got you, right?”

“Yeah, you’ve got me,” Barbara said, a pleased smile on her face.

Dick felt a surge of happiness at Barbara’s smile. Uncomfortable as he was, returning to Titans Tower, having Barbara at his side made him feel like he could take on the world. It pleased him to see her pleased about his affection for her.

They finished walking up the steps, and could see at the entrance to the building was a welcoming party. Dick paused for a moment. He wasn’t sure he could do it, not with all these people he had once considered family, not after the way he left.

A calming hand on his back brought him back to the present. Barbara was leaning against him, her hand rubbing his back, like she could tell the exact reason he had stopped. He wrapped his own arm around her, pulling her tight, taking strength in the warmth of her presence. Together, they could take on the world, and the Titans were not the world.

Dick released Barbara from his tight hold and started to move forward again, but Barbara stayed pressed against his side, like she was worried he’d disappear from existence or something. He slowed his pace to allow Barbara to stay in place, because it was comforting. They were about ten metres away from the welcoming committee when she finally stepped away from him.

Dick took the few steps before he was in speaking range to evaluate the group that had come to meet him. Despite his circumstance of leaving, Dick was heartened to see that it was four of the members of his original Titans team waiting. There was his old friend, Roy Harper, who went by Red Arrow in the field, with a massive smile on his face. Next to him, arm leaning against his shoulder was Karen Beecher, also known as Bumblebee. She had a frown on her face, a stark contrast with Roy. On the right, with a grin somehow wider than Roy’s, was the green-skinned Garfield Logan, commonly known as Beast Boy. And finally, standing in the middle of them all, was Kori.

Dick heard his breath hitch. She was somehow more beautiful than he remembered. Her green eyes shone; Dick felt as if he was being pulled into their depths. Her fiery red hair was long and thick, though it appeared to be soft enough to make Dick want to run his hands through it. She had a beaming smile on her face, that made the whole world brighter, and made Dick feel a warmth in his chest. She was wearing her Starfire outfit, accentuating her curves and – _WHOA. Calm down Grayson. You have a girlfriend, who you love very much._

Shaking his head to try and clear his thoughts, Dick finally stopped in front of the welcoming group. Kori held out her hand in greeting. Dick took it, shaking it, trying to ignore the heat flushing into his face at the contact.

“Hello, Nightwing. It is good to see you again,” Kori said.

When she said it, she looked right into Dick’s eyes, and it almost blew his brain into smithereens.

“Oh – uh hi, Starfire. It’s good to see you,” Dick stuttered, “y-you look good.”

Barbara elbowed him. It snapped him back into focus. He flicked Barbara, who did not look pleased, an apologetic glance, before turning back to Kori and the Titans.

“This is my girlfriend, Barbara, though you probably know her as Batgirl.”

Dick thought he saw Kori’s smile falter slightly at the use of ‘girlfriend’, but he must have imagined it, because it was back in full force a split second later.

“Welcome Batgirl, we are honoured to have you amongst us,” Kori said, holding her hand out again. Barbara shook it, politely returning the greeting.

Kori gestured for the group to follow her inside Titans Tower. Barbara had engaged in conversation with Garfield. Dick hoped Garfield wouldn’t tell her some of the more embarrassing stories. Roy came over and slung an arm around Dick’s shoulders. Karen didn’t follow him, instead catching up with Kori.

“Dick! It’s been a long damn time!” Roy said excitedly.

“It has,” Dick said, “I hope you’re not mad about how I left.”

“Mad? I barely know the story. One minute you and Kori are inseparable, next thing I know the two of you had broken up and you’d gone back to Gotham.”

“I’m sorry about that, and not speaking to you over the past two years.”

“It’s fine, Dick. Wally kept us updated on whether or not you were still alive.”

Roy gave Dick a slight elbow, obviously seeing the frown on Dick’s face.

“Come on dude, turn that frown upside down. It’s good to have you back. With Wally and Victor moving up to the Justice League, I’ve been feeling outnumbered by all the newbies.”

Dick felt slightly lightened at Roy’s words, and let the frown slide off his face. That wasn’t to say all his apprehension was gone, but having someone like Roy so happy to see him was certainly a good feeling.

The group stopped moving once they reached the meeting room on the lower floor. Kori lead them to a console in the centre of the room. The rest of the group circled around it, waiting for Kori to start talking.

“As we all know, Slade Wilson has returned,” Kori said, and Dick was certain she looked right at him.

“We do not know why he has shown himself again, or what his goals are, but we are waiting on a report from Blue Beetle and Aqualad, who have been investigating places where Slade has been spotted.”

“So, what are we doing until they return?” Barbara asked.

“We had hoped you and Nightwing would stay here,” Kori said, “We had prepared separate rooms, though if you would prefer to bunk together, that is fine.”

Barbara looked to Dick, allowing him to make the decision. He thought it over for a few moments. Kori might take offence to them sleeping in the same bed. Dick quickly put that thought aside; what Kori might think had no place in influencing his relationship.

“We’ll bunk together, if it’s no problem,” Dick said.

“It is not,” Kori responded, the reassuring smile on her face not reaching her eyes, “With that, you are all dismissed. We will meet again when Blue Beetle and Aqualad return.”

***

Dick and Barbara were shown to their room by Roy and Karen. Karen had been weirdly short with the both of them, leaving almost immediately when they arrived at the pair’s room.

“What’s up with her?” Dick asked Roy.

“She’s, uh, how do I say this? She’s still angry at you for breaking up with Kori,” Roy replied, “I’ll talk to her, no worries.”

Dick thanked Roy as he walked after Karen, painfully aware of how uncomfortable Barbara was. He tugged her into their room, closing the door behind them. He leant down and pressed a kiss to her lips. She gladly returned it, wrapping her arms around the back of Dick’s neck. After a few moments of enjoying the kiss, Dick pulled away, still pressing their foreheads together.

“This must be awkward,” Dick breathed, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Barbara said, voice low, “It’s going to take them all a bit to adjust, but we’re all adults, right?”

“Most of us. I’m not convinced about Gar.”

“You say that, but he told me some interesting things about the fifteen-year-old Dick Grayson.”

“Lies, all of it,” Dick said, smile tugging at his lips, and pulled the giggling Barbara closer. Dick allowed himself to admire his girlfriend. Her wide, amazing smile and the way the laugh lines creased in the corners of her eyes. Her bright, intelligent eyes that shone out at him, calculating but warm. Barbara noticed his gaze, raising her right hand to the side of his face.

“What are you looking at?” She asked.

“Just admiring your gracious beauty,” Dick replied.

“Keep that up, Grayson, and you might just get a reward,” Barbara said with a wink.

Dick laughed, winking back, only silenced when Barbara pulled him in for another kiss.

***

_“I’m going back to Gotham, Kori,” Dick said, voice soft._

_“Are you going to come back?” Kori asked._

_“I… don’t know. B might need me for a while,” Dick said._

_“We need you here, Dick! You’re the team leader,” Kori pleaded, “_ I _need you.”_

_“You don’t need me. You’ll be fine. We’ll be fine.”_

_“We will not be ‘fine’. We do not spend much time together right now! You will be busy in Gotham and we will still not spend time together.”_

_“So, what, you want to break up? End our relationship?”_

_“No, Dick. I-I just want you to stay.”_

_Dick felt a surge of anger. He had been staying at Titans Tower for years, and Kori couldn’t go a few months with him in Gotham? She was always at his side, always clinging to his side. He was being held back from growing; there was so much he could still learn from Batman, and he wasn’t going to learn it here, in Titans Tower._

_“Stay? STAY? Are you trying to hold me back, Kori? Is that what you want, to keep me here all to yourself?” Dick raged._

_“No, Dick, that isn’t –“_

_“We’re done, Kori. You, me, the Titans? We’re DONE.”_

_Kori’s face hardened. Where she had looked desperate, with a pleading look on her face, she now looked cold and unwelcoming._

_“Is that you want, Dick?”_

_Dick didn’t even think twice._

_“Yes.”_

_With that, Dick stormed down the stairs, turning his back on Kori, not letting her get a word in. He thought he saw tears on her face, but he didn’t turn back. This part of his life was done. He didn’t need the Titans anymore._

_He was out of the building and halfway down the entrance stairs when he stopped. He felt a rising pain in his chest, a horrific combination of guilt and regret. He wanted to run back up the stairs, into the building, and into Kori’s arms. He wanted to apologise to her, to kiss and make up, but it was too late. He’d burnt that bridge, all the bridges he had created with the Titans. He pulled his phone out of pocket, opening his contacts, looking for the one person he felt he could turn to. Finding their name, he pressed it, ringing them. They picked up after one ring._

_“Hey, Dick, what’s up?” Barbara said, voice clear through the phone._

_“I fucked up, Barbara.”_

Dick awoke suddenly, shooting upright. He was in a cold sweat and felt like he was going to throw up. Reliving one of the worst moments of his life was unpleasant at the best of times, never mind through a nightmare.

His startled awaking must have woken Barbara up as well, because she turned over, groggily shaking her head to wake herself up.

“Are you alright?” She mumbled, obviously still half-asleep.

“Just a nightmare, babe. You can go back to sleep, I’ll be fine,” Dick responded quietly.

Barbara must have been having a good sleep, because she didn’t protest, instead rolling back over, asleep by the time her head hit the pillow. Dick tried to follow her lead, but didn’t fall asleep, instead lying awake with only his thoughts for company.

Despite what he told Barbara, he wasn’t fine, and he didn’t want to fall asleep, for fears of experiencing his nightmare again.

***

Dick clearly fell asleep at some point, because he was woken in the morning by the sounds of shouting down the hallway. He looked at the time. It was seven in the morning. He should not be forced to get up this early. Barbara was still asleep, at which Dick felt a sting of envy.

Unable to fall asleep again, Dick reluctantly slid out of bed and changed into some casual clothes. He could still hear the yelling, so he stepped out of his room, following the noise to the source.

In the lounge at the end of the hall were Garfield and Roy, standing by a plant. Roy was holding a small watering can and was yelling at Garfield. It was a one-sided argument, because Garfield wasn’t responding. He was too busy laughing. It was only making Roy angrier, and the redhead launched into another tirade.

“FOUR MONTHS. You let me do this for FOUR MONTHS. You are dead, you little green bastard!”

It was too early for an argument this loud, so Dick moved to intercept before it got any worse.

“Hey guys, let’s chill out. What’s going on?” he asked.

Roy had a look of murder on his face. It was obvious that he was furious. Garfield seemed not to mind however, giggling away.

“It’s nothing,” Garfield said, still giggling.

“NOTHING?” Roy boomed, “You let me water this fake-ass plant like it was real for FOUR MONTHS without saying a word!”

Dick stared. That was the reason Roy was so mad? As he slowly processed it in his mind, Dick felt himself start to laugh as well, without even meaning to. Roy turned the murderous look onto Dick.

“Don’t you start,” Roy said, voice low and dangerous, “I was happy to see you back, but that feeling could change in an instant.”

Dick looked at Garfield, and Garfield looked at him. They started laughing even harder.

“You must admit,” Dick said between laughs, “It is a little funny.”

“Yeah, come on Roy, let yourself laugh for once,” Garfield added, grinning widely, not helping the situation at all.

“I hate you both,” Roy muttered. He turned away and started to walk out of the room. Dick called after him, still laughing, but Roy ignored him. Garfield responded by turning into a hyena and laughing even harder. That got Roy’s attention, making him stop in the doorway. He slowly turned around, lifted his hands up, both balled into fists, and pulled the finger at them with both hands. To anyone else, this would be thought as an insult, but Dick could see the barest hint of a smile on Roy’s face as he finally left the room.

“I saw that smile!” Garfield said, turning back into a person, “We won, Dickie my boy!”

Dick chuckled at his friend.

“That we did, Gar, that we did.”

Dick felt a welcome sense of warmth roll over him. This was just like old times, Gar playing some prank on Roy, Roy responding in anger until he was eventually convinced to see the funny side of it. Dick still felt somewhat out of place, considering the manner he left, but it was nice to be included in this reminder of his time with the Titans.

“So, Dickie, how have you been? Good?” Gar asked, waving his hand in front of Dick’s face to get his attention while sitting on one of the couches.

“Yeah, I have been. You? Doesn’t look like much has changed around here,” Dick replied, sitting next to him.

“I’ve been good. Starfire tried to keep everything as similar as possible after you left. I think she was hoping you’d come back. I suppose we all were.”

“Oh.”

Dick felt awkward and uncomfortable. The Titans had done so much for him, and he’d treated them like they were disposable, like they weren’t important. And even after that, they’d still held out hope he would return, and he never did. He never even sent a message. The only Titan he’d kept talking to was Wally, when he owed all of them an explanation and an apology. He suddenly felt distinctly out of place sitting next to Gar.

“Whoa, Dickie, you’ve gone pale,” Gar said, “Are you feeling unwell?”

“No, it’s just… I treated all of you like crap, and you still hoped I’d come back?”

Gar just looked confused at this question, as if Dick had asked him to eat his own shoe.

“Of course. You were the team leader. We all kind of admired you.”

“You shouldn’t have.”

“Dickie, come on man. We forgave you, like, ages ago – well, except Bumblebee, but that’s because she’s always been like that. And if you’re still worried about Starfire, then just, like, talk to her or something, like what you mature adults do.”

Dick huffed a laugh at the end of Gar’s speech.

“Aren’t you an adult as well, Gar?”

“I resent that implication. I am nineteen, and I refuse to become an adult until I am twenty. You know, ancient.”

“Oi, watch yourself, I’m not ancient.”

“That’s debatable, Dickie.”

The two of them started laughing. Dick supposed Gar was right. Roy had been just as welcoming to him as Gar. Karen was still mad, but he would talk to her, sort that out. It was his fault, so the least he could do was seek her out and apologise.

As for Kori, Dick wasn’t sure. He knew, deep down, that Gar was right. He should just talk to Kori, to sort out what happened between them, and what to do going forward. However, whenever he thought of her, his nightmare flashed into his mind, reminding him of what he had done, how he had hurt her. Not to mention he didn’t speak to her for two years, only to arrive at the Tower with a girlfriend. Maybe she thought that was why he had gone back to Gotham? To hook up with Barbara? That thought made his stomach turn. The idea of Kori being hurt by his actions made his stomach turn.

 _How could I possibly talk to her, when I have hurt her so much?_ _How could I possibly make anything better?_

***

Dick managed to catch up with Karen later that day. She was been by herself for the first time since Dick had arrived at Titans Tower.

“Hey, Karen!” Dick called.

Karen turned around with her arms crossed, a displeased expression on her face.

“What do you want?”

“I want to apologise for how I left. It was unfair to you and the rest of the team.”

“I’m not the one you should be apologising to,” Karen said pointedly.

“I know… I just figured you should get an apology as well,” Dick said.

Karen’s face softened slightly, and she uncrossed her arms.

“Just apologise to who you actually need to apologise to.”

“I will, Karen, I will,” Dick said, turning to walk away.

“Dick, wait!” Karen called. He turned around, slightly shocked to see a small smile on Karen’s face.

“It’s good to have you back,” she said, tone soft.

“It’s good to be back,” Dick replied, returning the smile.

***

Dick couldn’t sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, his nightmare from the night before flashed in his mind. Sighing, consigned to the fact he wasn’t going to get any sleep, Dick slipped out of bed, careful not to wake Barbara. He pulled on a coat and made his way out of the room.

He went down the hallway, finding the roof access. When he had been younger, sitting on the roof and looking at the stars had always been a great way to relax. Climbing up the stairs, he could feel the air cool around him as he got closer to the roof. He reached the top and opened the door, feeling the cool breeze of the evening air flow over him. Stepping onto the roof, he suddenly froze. There was already someone sitting on the roof.

An uncomfortable pressure rose in his throat when he realised it was Kori. She looked content and beautiful, her hair loosely flowing down her back. She was holding her knees up to her chin, admiring the sky. The sight made Dick want to wrap his arms around her and hug her tight.

Kori suddenly turned, before Dick could react. As she noticed Dick standing, her eyes went wide and she jumped to her feet.

“Sorry, I didn’t – please, continue, I’ll go,” Dick stuttered.

“Don’t worry, Nightwing. You can join me, I do not mind,” Kori said.

“You can call me Dick, Starfire, you don’t need to use my hero name.”

“In which case you can call me Kori. Please, sit.”

Kori patted the ground next to her as she sat down again. The gears in Dick’s brain took a moment to start turning, but he quickly sat down next to her, although with a very conscious gap. He didn’t like the way he could feel his heart rate increase, just from feeling the heat radiate off Kori’s body.

“I wasn’t sure if I could call you Dick… It seemed too personal,” Kori said apologetically.

“It’s okay,” Dick responded, ignoring the way his heart leapt into his throat.

They sat in calm silence. Dick occasionally glanced to his side, admiring Kori. Her jawline was soft yet defined, giving her a rounded jaw but a pointed chin. Above her chin were her lips, full and a light pink. Her orange skin was clear, unblemished by acne or freckles. Her clothes left her shoulders exposed, and Dick just wanted to lean over and press a kiss to them. He was aware that Barbara wouldn’t be impressed by this line of thought, but he was drowning in the presence of the woman next to him, unable to see past or around her.

“What brings you out here, Dick?” Kori asked, breaking the silence.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“Is something bothering you? Is there any way I can help?”

“Yeah… I think you could,” Dick said. He didn’t look back at Kori, pulling his knees up to his chin and looking out at the Jump City skyline. For such a modern, concrete city, it was a beautiful at night, the shining lights glittering out like stars on the ground.

Kori had not replied to his statement. She was letting him take the lead, just as considerate as she had always been. Another pang of guilt shot through his heart. She deserved so much more than what he had ever offered her.

“We need to talk about what happened two years ago,” Dick finally said, releasing a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding.

“I agree,” Kori said, shifting herself to face Dick. He followed suit, facing her.

“I’m so sorry, Kori. I treated you so, so badly. I never came back, or even sent a message to let you know I was okay. It was selfish, and I understand if you hate me for it,” Dick said in a rush, feeling the sting of tears at the edge of his eyes.

Kori gave him a sad smile, reaching up to brush the tears away from his eyes. Dick felt a tingling similar to electricity where her fingers brushed over his face, making him shiver in response.

“It’s okay, Dick. I love – loved you. But we must all move on, yes? It does not do to dwell on the past. I am simply happy you have come to our aid now,” Kori said.

Dick felt something in his heart shatter at her use of ‘loved’, but he tried not to let it show. Kori noticed something was wrong, placing her warm hands to his cheeks, pressing their foreheads together. Dick was painfully aware of how close her lips were. He could simply push forward slightly and kiss her.

At that thought, Dick shot backwards, suddenly coming to his senses. Kori leant back as well, a slightly hurt expression on her face. Dick needed to get off this roof and back to bed before he did something he would regret.

“Thank you for the chat, Kori,” he rushed out, “I’m glad we sorted things out, and I hope we can remain friends.”

“Of course. You are still dear to me, Dick. I would be honoured to remain your friend,” Kori responded, her sad smile growing wider and happier.

“Well, I better get back to bed, Barbara is probably wondering where I am.”

Kori’s smile drooped slightly at the mention of Barbara, but she stood up as well, shaking herself off.

“Yes, I think I should head to bed as well. Blue Beetle and Aqualad arrived late tonight, so I will see you at the briefing tomorrow?”

Dick nodded his assent and rushed through the door on the roof, down the stairs. He didn’t know what the hell was going on with his brain when it was near Kori, but it was probably because he hadn’t seen her in a while. It would surely calm down after a while. Despite this worry, he let himself smile slightly. Things were patched up with Kori and the Titans. Life were slowly getting back to the way it used to be between them all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 - a lot longer the first, haha. We've met Kori, and Dick's confronted some of his repressed memories.  
> I have hopes of getting the next chapter up sometime next week, but no promises.
> 
> The original Titans team in the universe of this fanfic is: Robin (Dick), Starfire (Kori), Bumblebee (Karen), Red Arrow (Roy), Beast Boy (Garfield), Kid Flash (Wally), Cyborg (Victor). Wally is now Flash and part of the Justice League along with Cyborg.
> 
> Comments and criticism are welcome and appreciated - especially since I still have much to learn about the DCU.  
> I am still looking for a beta, if anyone is interested.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. The Briefing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick attends the briefing, meeting some more of the Titans, including some he might need to keep an eye on.

Dick woke up early the next morning. Seven o’clock once again. Dick sighed. Three days in the Titans Tower and he was already falling back on his old sleep schedule. He threw his sheets off and stood up, stretching his limbs.

“You are not the only one sleeping in this bed, Grayson!”

Dick jumped at the sound. He turned around to see a pile of sheets and covers sitting up. He realised that in his early morning stupor he had forgotten that Barbara had still been sleeping. However, this was a chance for a bit of fun.

“Ah! A ghost! How’d you get in my bed?” Dick cried.

“You know full well that I am not a ghost,” Barbara huffed.

“That’s Barbara’s voice! Have you possessed her? It would make sense, because you seem a lot grumpier than she is.”

“Oh, shut up,” Barbara said, a smile hinting on her lips, throwing the pile of sheets to the side and launching her pillow at him.

Dick easily dodged the soft projectile and jumped onto the bed. He ducked to avoid another pillow and lightly tackled Barbara, holding onto her waist tightly.

“Barbara, are you in there? Fight the ghost, I believe in you!”

“Get off me!” Barbara said between laughs, “I said get off, you foul beast!”

Dick slid his arms out from around Barbara’s waist and sat up, running his hand through his hair.

“Foul beast? That sounds like the Barbara that I know and love.”

“You’re the foulest,” Barbara said, smile now wide on her face.

Dick laughed and wrapped his arms around her again, pulling her closer. They pressed their foreheads together, basking in the others presence for a few moments. Something in Dick’s world felt right after his conversation with Kori on the roof.

“You’re in a good mood,” Barbara said quietly, observant as ever.

“Yeah. Kori and I sorted things out last night.”

Barbara leant back and looked in his eyes, a critical expression on her face, body tense.

“Sorted things out?” she asked warily.

“As in we talked about it, babe,” Dick said, kissing her forehead in reassurance.

Dick could feel Barbara relax in his arms, and she snuggled against his shoulder. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his torso, like she was afraid Dick was going to slip away. Dick returned the hug, slowly rubbing her back, trying to make her feel better.

“Hey, what’s up? Are you okay?” Dick murmured in her ear.

Barbara shot backwards, letting go of Dick. She smiled wide, but it reminded Dick of the smiles B would make when he was schmoozing the rich elite of Gotham as Bruce Wayne. It wasn’t something Dick was good at doing himself; he’d always been one to wear his heart on his sleeve, so the idea of masking his feelings behind plastic smiles made him uncomfortable.

However, before Dick could comment, Barbara had jumped off the bed, and into the room’s en-suite, door closing behind her. He blinked, slightly confused at the whirlwind of emotions Barbara had just put him through. He heard the shower start and sighed. He wasn’t going to get any answers out of Barbara, so he might as well get ready for Kori’s briefing.

***

Barbara eventually came out of the en-suite, allowing Dick to get ready himself. Stepping out of the bathroom once he was finished, Dick saw Barbara pulling on her Batgirl cowl. It completed the full ensemble of her Batgirl costume, which she was wearing.

“Are we wearing our costumes?” Dick asked, opening the closet.

Barbara rolled her eyes at him.

“Yes, we are. This is an official Titans briefing, not a chat with your old friends. Most of the younger ones don’t know our secret identities.”

“Okay, I get it, I get it. I’m putting the Nightwing costume on.”

Barbara hummed her approval. Dick rolled his eyes with great exaggeration in response. She whipped her cape at him playfully, a faux anger on her face. Dick pulled the Nightwing jumpsuit out of the closet and stepped into it, then pulling it over his shoulders. He left the hood down, deciding that it was probably a little excessive. With his suit on, Dick slid his boots on, then stuck his domino mask to his face, completing the Nightwing ensemble.

“I maintain that your costume makes your butt look great,” Barbara giggled.

“Why thank you, my dear. I do try,” Dick said in a mock English accent, posing in a way that drew attention to his posterior.

“Stop it, you. Let’s go,” Barbara said, still giggling.

Dick gave a wide smile and gestured for Barbara to lead the way. On the way out, Dick grabbed his two escrima sticks, putting them in place on his back. He wasn’t expecting a fight, but B had always taught him to be prepared for anything, and it was a hard habit to break.

The two of them walked to the elevator, stepping in, and pressed the button for the briefing floor. The doors had just started to close when a purple bundle launched itself at them, flying through the open space right into Dick’s stomach as the doors finally closed. He collapsed backwards with the sudden force; the air was pushed out of his chest.

“OhmygoodnessIamsosorryareyoualright?” the purple bundle said very quickly.

Dick looked up towards the source of the voice, to see a girl with blonde hair, wearing a purple hooded cloak and a black mask that covered the lower half of her face. She was still on top of him, making it hard for him to breathe, so he gestured towards his chest, hoping this girl would get the message. Her eyes went wide and she quickly rolled off him, standing up. Dick took a few deep breaths, then stood up as well, getting a hand from Barbara, who had a bemused expression on her face. The blonde girl took two looks between them, her eyes widening to the point that they looked ready to leap out of her face.

“Oh, my goodness,” she said excitedly, “You’re Nightwing! And you’re Batgirl! I am a huge, huge fan! Tim – I mean, I’ve heard a lot about you!”

Dick raised his eyebrows at the mention of Tim. There was no way she meant their Tim. But it didn’t make sense otherwise. He doubted there was another Tim that could have told her about Nightwing and Batgirl. Dick gave the girl another once-over when it clicked into place.

“Wait – are you Stephanie Brown? Tim’s friend from his old school?” Dick asked incredulously.

“No, I’m Spoiler,” she whined. Barbara gave her a stern look. She wilted. “Okay, yes, fine, I am Stephanie, please don’t tell my mother.”

“What the hell are you doing here? Aren’t you fourteen?” Dick asked.

“Fifteen in three months. And Tim’s fifteen as well, and I don’t see you making any comments,” Stephanie said fiercely.

“She’s got a point,” Barbara said. Dick glared at her.

“Don’t side with the child!”

Before Stephanie could retort again, the elevator stopped with a ding, the doors opening. Barbara bundled them out into the briefing room. Dick, who had another point against Stephanie on the tip of his tongue, paused for a moment. The briefing floor had changed dramatically in the two years since Dick had last been in Titans Tower.

It had been expanded, now taking up a wide expanse of space that seemed to be the whole floor. On the far wall there was a massive screen, currently displaying security footage of an old warehouse. Under the screen was a raised stage with microphones placed around it, probably to help the speaker’s voice reach every corner of the cavernous space. Most shockingly to Dick was the fact that the room was full of different costumed heroes. When he had left the Titans, there had only been seven of them; now Dick estimated that there were somewhere around twenty, all waiting for the briefing to start.

“Spoiler! There you are!” called another voice.

Dick looked towards the source of the voice and saw another blonde girl, although she was taller than Stephanie. She was wearing red pants and a black, turtleneck tank-top, with what looked to be Wonder Woman’s symbol emblazoned on her chest. Stephanie noticed her as well, running and jumping at her. The new blonde girl caught her, spinning her around in a hug, then whispering something in Stephanie’s ear as she placed her down. Stephanie nodded, merging into the crowd of young heroes. The blonde girl now walked up to Dick and Barbara.

“I hope Spoiler wasn’t bothering you, she can just get excitable,” said the girl, before she realised who she was talking to, “Oh, you’re Nightwing and Batgirl! She really looks up to you guys. She also claims she’s friends with Robin, but I don’t believe it.”

“She was no bother,” Barbara said, “And who are you?”

“I’m Cassie,” the girl said, pausing slightly, as if she had remembered something important, “Or Wonder Girl, if codenames are more your thing.”

“You don’t seem as young as Spoiler,” Dick pointed out, ignoring Barbara’s sideways glare.

“I’m seventeen, a few years older, that’s why,” Cassie said, “Anyway, I better get back to her. Nice meeting you!”

Cassie gave a mock salute and walked into the group of Titans. As soon as she was gone, Barbara whacked his shoulder with the back of her palm.

“Ow! What was that for?” Dick asked.

“Spoiler looks up to you, and you belittled her!” Barbara said grumpily.

Before Dick could reply, Barbara had walked into the group of Titans, back turned to him. Dick felt slightly guilty. He and the original Titans had all been around Stephanie’s age when they created the team. But years of experience in the field had somewhat changed his mind. As much as he came across as carefree, he did not like the way heroes like Batman and Wonder Woman could inspire children to throw themselves into the line of duty.

“You are cute when you are lost in thought,” said a voice from beside Dick, making him jump. He realised it was Kori, who was now laughing softly at his fright.

“Sorry, Kori, didn’t see you there,” Dick said sheepishly, trying to stop his heart rate increasing at her calling him cute.

“It is fine. What are you thinking so hard about?”

“I think I’ve upset Spoiler. I called her too young.”

Kori looked at him curiously.

“But you were twelve when you started fighting crime.”

“I know, Kori, I know. I just – I don’t know. Am I being sexist? I’ve never really got on B’s back about Robin.”

Kori let out a small giggle, bumping her shoulder against his. Dick became consciously aware of the way her costume left her shoulders bare.

“I do not think you are being sexist, as I seem to remember you being very reluctant to let Beast Boy on the team.”

Dick smiled at the memory. Gar had come to them a few months after they had formed the team, showing off his powers like a show pony. He had wanted to join despite the fact he had only been eleven. Dick, as the de facto leader at the time, had initially refused, but was convinced when Gar had saved all their lives when he made the Scarecrow laugh by pretending to be Garfield the cat, from the comics.

“Spoiler has not had an easy life, Dick,” Kori said quietly, moving closer to him, “Her father is one of Batman’s enemies, and then she was rejected by Batman when she tried to help. She came to us afraid and alone, so of course we took her in.”

“Now I feel like a real ass,” Dick muttered, “She totally looked up to me as well.”

“Then you should talk to her. You never failed to make me feel welcome when I first arrived, and you always knew how to make everyone feel better after a particularly tough mission,” Kori said fiercely.

Dick’s heart and mind might have exploded at the passionate way Kori had complimented him, but he tried to glue the pieces back together to continue the conversation.

“Okay… I can talk to her.”

Kori beamed at him, and Dick forced himself to look up to avoid doing something stupid. It didn’t help, because he still felt an urge to pull her into a tight hug. It was getting pathetic, his strange yearning after Kori. He and Barbara had a strong relationship, and he was certain that he loved her, so why Kori seemed to be on his mind all the time was unknown to him.

“Hey, Starfire, are we ready to start the briefing?”

 _Yet another introduction_. It wasn’t that Dick didn’t like meeting the younger Titans, there were just a lot of people to meet, and that had always made him a little tired. However, when he saw the newcomer, he was slightly stunned to see that he looked to be the same age as he was. The newcomer had long black hair, tied into a ponytail behind his head. His uniform was similar in concept to the Nightwing costume, a black and blue jumpsuit. However, most of the torso and sleeves were blue. His eyes were almost a solid black, with small white pupils. Dick couldn’t look into them for long.

“Oh, Nightwing! This is Aqualad. He is a valued member of the Titans and my…” Kori trailed her sentence off, seemingly uncomfortable with where it was headed.

“I’m her boyfriend,” Aqualad finished for Kori, a somewhat smug look on his face.

There was a sudden sharp pain in Dick’s chest, a sensation similar to that of being stabbed. He tried to say something, anything, to make the situation less awkward, but he was tongue-tied. The brief thought of punching the smug look off of Aqualad’s face flitted through his mind, but he fortunately had enough self-control to stop himself from following through. He spotted Barbara in the crowd and planned his escape route.

“It’s… nice. To meet you, that is. I’ll see you after the briefing,” Dick forced out, starting to move towards Barbara.

Kori looked like she wanted to say something else, but Aqualad intercepted it, pulling her away to the stage underneath the massive screen. Dick tried to ignore his second flash of anger at the sight, walking swiftly over to Barbara. She heard him coming, a frown forming on her face when she saw him, obviously noticing his bad mood.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” Dick hissed, not entirely comfortable telling Barbara that he was mad because he didn’t like Kori’s boyfriend.

Barbara raised an eyebrow, not believing him in the slightest, but she didn’t push. They were distracted by a sudden tapping through the sound system. They, and every other Titan in the room, looked up to the stage. Standing in front of them all was Kori, with Aqualad on her left, and a short person in a strange blue armoured suit on her right.

“Thank you for coming so promptly, Titans,” Kori said, “Aqualad and Blue Beetle have returned from their scouting mission, and will take over the briefing from here.”

Kori stepped back, allowing Aqualad and the blue-armoured person (who must be Blue Beetle, Dick thought) to step forward. Aqualad shook his hair out and winked at Kori, causing Dick to grit his teeth.

“Blue Beetle and I investigated this warehouse, where the mysterious Slade Wilson was last seen,” Aqualad said, gesturing to the security footage of an empty warehouse on the massive screen, “Slade was not there, but there was a group of men protecting the area, as seen here.”

Aqualad pressed a button on a remote, causing the security footage to start playing. On the screen, everyone could see a group of people in black uniform standing around a truck, talking about something. Dick immediately recognised the uniform, and so did Barbara. It was the same uniform that the men who had attacked them in Gotham had worn. It was the uniform of the foot soldiers of the Light. The realisation chilled Dick to the bone. If Slade Wilson, a talented manipulator himself, was working with the Light, they were in serious trouble.

On the screen, one of the soldiers was suddenly attacked by a beam of blue light. Blue Beetle flew into view, knocking down another two soldiers. Another soldier was taken down by a blast of water, with Aqualad jumping into view, kicking another in the groin. The remaining soldiers were made short work of, the team of Aqualad and Blue Beetle working in almost perfect combination, leaving no openings to exploit.

“As you can see there, we managed to capture a few of these soldiers,” Aqualad said, pausing the footage. Blue Beetle then stepped forward.

“Unfortunately, they have given no useful information about who they are, or where Slade Wilson is located,” Blue Beetle said, his voice tinged with a slight Mexican accent.

Barbara looked at Dick, prompting him to speak up.

“They’re foot soldiers of the Light!” Dick called.

All the eyes in the room turned to him. Aqualad looked slightly miffed, probably unhappy that his briefing had been upstaged. However, Kori, who was standing behind Aqualad, gestured for him to continue.

“The Light is an organisation that operates in the shadows, manipulating world events to their own benefit. These guys are a big deal, they’re on the Justice League’s radar.”

Dick’s mention of the Justice League sent a series of murmurs throughout the room. He suspected that most of them were used to slighter smaller scale villains, rather than an organisation that could challenge the Justice League. Kori suddenly stepped forward to the microphone.

“Titans! This briefing is over, you are dismissed! Senior Titans, please meet me in the side room!” Kori said loudly.

The crowd of younger Titans began to leave. Dick spotted Roy and Karen going in a different direction, joined by Gar a second later. Dick was not entirely sure if he counted as a senior Titan, considering he had quit. These fears were assuaged when Gar spotted him, waving for him to follow. Dick grabbed Barbara’s hand, who had been about to leave the room. She looked confused for a second, until she saw where he was taking her.

“Senior Titans, are we?” she asked.

“If I am, you are,” Dick answered. Barbara’s glowing smile in response made him blush.

Soon they had reached the so-called side room. Inside was a layout similar to the briefing room on the bottom floor, a small space with a circular console inside. Standing around it were Roy, Karen, Gar, Blue Beetle, Aqualad (to Dick’s disdain), and Kori. Aqualad had his arm around Kori’s shoulders, so Dick pulled Barbara to his side, putting his arm around her shoulders. Barbara looked confused, but didn’t complain, snuggling against Dick’s side.

“So, Nightwing. Know all about our bad guy friends, do you?” asked Aqualad, his voice smarmy.

“Hey, watch your tone, fishboy,” Roy snapped. Aqualad glared, but didn’t respond. Dick had never liked the archer more.

“Can we focus?” Karen said pointedly, directed mainly at Roy, who shrank under her gaze.

“Yes. Nightwing, if you may, how dangerous is this Light organisation?” Kori asked.

“I don’t actually know. All I know is that Batman considers them a serious threat, so if Slade’s working with them, we could be in big trouble,” Dick replied, ignoring Aqualad rolling his eyes.

“That is troublesome. Blue Beetle, were you and Aqualad able to learn anything?” Kori said, turning to Blue Beetle.

“We were. We’ve got two possible places that these Light guys could be next. They are apparently moving some valuable cargo,” Blue Beetle said, pulling up a holographic display on the central console, “One is here, at the Jump City docks, and the other is there, the Jump City museum storage.”

“Then we will split into two groups. Red Arrow, Bumblebee, Beast Boy, Blue Beetle and Aqualad, you will go and investigate the docks. Nightwing and Batgirl, you will join me in investigating the museum storage.”

Aqualad looked about to protest, but Kori held a hand up, stopping him.

“You are dismissed. Use your time to prepare. We will commence with our missions tomorrow night.”

Everyone started to filter out, except Dick. Barbara turned back towards him, a question on her lips. Dick jerked his head towards Kori, hopefully conveying that he just wanted a word. Barbara, understanding as always, gave him a small smile and caught up with Gar, joining his conversation with Roy.

“Did you want to say something, Dick?” Kori asked, noticing that he was still in the room.

“Are you sure three people are going to be enough for this mission, Kori? The Light are well trained.”

Kori leant against the console and sighed.

“No, I am not sure. I want a fourth member, but Roy, Karen, Gar, and Beetle have formed a strong team. And I like Aqualad, but he’s not good on missions.”

Dick’s heart did a desperate leap in his chest at Kori using ‘like’ instead of ‘love’, but he quashed it down. Kori was in a relationship, he was in a relationship, there was no reason to act like a teenage boy around her.

“Actually, I have someone for a fourth member of our team,” Dick said suddenly, an idea forming in his head.

Kori looked up expectantly, waiting for him to tell her.

“Just, trust me on this one, Kori, you’ll love it when you see who.”

“I trust you with my life, Dick, you do not need to ask.”

Dick grinned, both at her compliment and at his own brilliant idea. He gave her a slight wave and left the side room, ready to get their team’s fourth member.

***

It took him until the early evening to find Stephanie. She wasn’t on her floor, instead in one of the communal living spaces, sat with Cassie and a few other girls, chatting about something. Cassie noticed his approach first, giving him a wave. The other girls turned and smiled as well, some a little too wide for Dick to be comfortable, but Stephanie merely pulled her hood down lower and crossed her arms.

“Hello girls. I was wondering if I could borrow Spoiler for a bit?” Dick asked when he was within speaking range. Stephanie didn’t respond, actively ignoring him, but Cassie either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

“Absolutely you can, here she is,” Cassie said, pulling Stephanie to her feet with surprising strength. Stephanie tried to squirm out of Cassie’s grip, but the older girl was clearly stronger. Cassie brought Stephanie over, planting her next to Dick.

“Have fun, you too!” Cassie said cheerfully, shoving both of them in the back, sending them towards the door.

To her credit, Stephanie did not try to run away, simply walking beside Dick in cold silence. He led her down a hallway to a balcony. Once they were out on the balcony, Dick pulled over two of several beanbags that were scattered around. He gestured for Stephanie to sit, which she did.

“Spoiler, I owe you an apology,” Dick said.

Stephanie’s head shot up; her eyes were wide with surprise. She must have been expecting a completely different conversation.

“I shouldn’t have belittled you because of your age. You’ve been through so much, and yet here you are, fighting the good fight. I respect that.

“But I also don’t know that much about you. Do you mind telling me your story? In your terms, not someone else’s?”

Stephanie looked slightly shocked at the direction the conversation, but she took a deep breath and started to speak.

“My parents are divorced, but I lived with my dad. But he barely spent any time at home. I found out that it was because he was the Cluemaster, you know, the villain?”

Dick nodded.

“Well, I flipped when I found out, so I ran away from home to my mother’s. She took me in when I told her what had happened, but I don't think she believed me, and she wasn't all that happy to see me. Anyway, I started going to a new school, and I met Tim.”

A small smile appeared on Stephanie’s face when she mentioned Tim, which is probably what Dick did whenever he thought of Kori. He gestured for her to continue.

“This was about two years ago. Anyway, late last year, I noticed Tim suddenly had less and less free time, and was way more tired at school, right around the time he had started to live with Bruce Wayne, and exactly at the same time the papers started talking about a new Robin. It was pretty easy to figure out that Tim was the new Robin, and that Bruce Wayne was the Batman.”

“Wait, you figured out that Bruce was Batman, and that Tim was Robin?” Dick asked, slightly stunned.

“Yeah! I did! And I went to Bruce, because I knew about his rogues, thanks to my dad, and his whole Batman thing. I wanted to help. Bruce told me I wasn’t hero material, and sent me on my way. I figured out who the Batman was, and I still wasn’t good enough,” Stephanie answered bitterly.

“How did you end up joining the Titans?” Dick said, asking the question that had been on his mind for a while.

“Tim felt bad about what happened, so he helped me become ‘Spoiler’, and I helped him fight crime. Until my dad found out who I was and came after me. I had to get out of Gotham, so Tim told me about Jump City and the Titans, so I came here as fast as I could, and was welcomed with open arms, for once in my life.”

The two of them sat in silence for a while. Dick was slightly stunned that Bruce hadn’t taken her in. Tim had done the exact same thing as her, and had a similar family background, and he had been welcomed. Dick felt a slight surge of outrage towards Bruce; in what world did Stephanie not qualify as part of the team?

“So, is there any other reason you wanted to talk to me, Nightwing?” Stephanie finally asked.

“Yeah, there is,” Dick said, grinning, “I want you to be the fourth member of my team for a mission tomorrow night. You in?”

“Oh, my goodness, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!” Stephanie said quickly. “You won’t regret it! I promise, thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“I know I won’t. You’re a good kid, Spoiler, and I bet you’re an even better hero. However, you can repay me by telling me stories about Tim that I can use to embarrass him.”

Stephanie laughed, before launching into a story. As Dick was regaled with the tale of the time Tim accidentally spilled a milkshake over his crush, he leant backwards onto the beanbag. As he relaxed his neck, he gained a view of the doorway to the balcony. To his surprise, standing in it was Kori, leaning against the doorframe, looking wistfully at him and Stephanie. The evening sun gleamed on her orange skin, making her glow with a vaguely golden light. She looked more like an angel than anyone he had ever seen before.

He sat up slightly, turning his head to look at her properly. She noticed his gaze, and gave him a warm smile, her green eyes soft in a way that made his stomach swoop and his heart beat faster. He grinned awkwardly back, scratching the back of his head. They both stared at each other, drinking the other’s presence in, admiring every feature, every perfection and imperfection.

Stephanie stopped telling her story, noticing that Dick had become distracted. He shot her an apologetic look, and gestured for Kori to join them. She appeared to think it over for a second, before stepping onto the balcony. Dick shifted to the left, creating space for Kori to sit on his beanbag. She gladly took it, her side pressed against his, getting his heart rate up. Stephanie, mollified that they were paying attention, launched back into the story. As the young girl went into detail about Tim’s crush, Kori snuggled closer to Dick’s side, and allowed him to put his arm around her shoulders.

Of course, it was a purely platonic cuddle. They were both happy in their own relationships, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this third chapter! Dick's big brother tendencies have come out in full force regarding Stephanie, and he's already got a serious thing against Aqualad (sorry if you love Aqualad, but I don't).  
> The next chapter will either come out late this week, or early next week.
> 
> Comments and criticism are welcome and appreciated.  
> Thanks for reading!


	4. Night at the Museum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mission commences! Dick, Kori, Barbara and Stephanie try to discover more about the Light's plan.

Dick had forgotten the strange silence that usually came with the beginning of a mission. Despite the loud hum of the engines, the jet’s cabin was silent, with no one saying a word. Kori was sitting in one of the seats, palms pressed together up to her lips. Barbara was fiddling with her utility belt, ensuring everything was in place. Dick himself was standing against the wall of the cabin, arms folded. Stephanie was the least patient of the group, pacing up and down the cabin, looking at her feet.

The other group had reportedly already touched down on the docks, though they didn’t have any other news. Dick hoped that they were doing alright, though he knew that Roy, Karen and Gar were skilled, and that Blue Beetle had meshed well with them. He was still unsure about Aqualad (and not just because he didn’t like him), but the skills of the other four should make up for any shortcomings.

Dick looked up to see Kori staring at him. She blushed slightly when he made eye contact, looking away again. Things had been slightly weird between them after they had cuddled on the balcony yesterday. Kori had spent much of the day avoiding him, but he hadn’t failed to notice the various secret glances she had been making at him all day. Mainly because he had been doing the same thing.

He looked away from Kori and towards Barbara. He felt a jolt of panic when he realised, she was looking between him and Kori. However, she glanced back at him and gave a small smile, calming him. He still felt slightly disgraced at himself; Barbara was good to him, and he spent half his time thinking about Kori. It wasn’t exactly fair to her.

“We’re approaching the museum storage, prepare for the jump,” came the pilot’s voice over the intercom. Kori had introduced them as Miss Martian before the mission, citing that the jet was a bio-ship coded to Miss Martian alone, requiring her to fly it.

Dick stood up, pulling the hood over his head. Stephanie stopped pacing, instead standing next to him, a determined look in her eyes. He knew that she had been preparing all day for the mission, and had learned from Cassie that it was actually her first mission for the Titans. He ruffled the top of her head, trying to provide some form of encouragement. She glared at him, but he could see her gratitude past the tough façade. One didn’t live with the Batman without learning to see through masks.

“We’re here. Ready to go?” Miss Martian called over the intercom.

Kori shouted her assent to the cockpit. At the end of the cabin, the wall melted away, opening them to the elements. A strong wind blew through the cabin, its chill causing Dick to shiver slightly. This was his least favourite part of plane jumps. They were always too cold.

Kori was the first to stand on the precipice to the roof of the storage facility below. She evaluated the height, something Dick had taught her several years ago, before turning back to the rest of them.

“Titans, go!” Kori shouted, jumping out of the jet.

Barbara was the next to jump, leaping out, her cape spread to help her glide. Dick gestured for Stephanie to follow her, intending to be the last out. Stephanie froze when she looked down. Dick realised that it may actually be her first time doing a plane jump.

“Have you ever done this before?” Dick asked softly.

Stephanie rather stiffly shook her head. Her body was tense, and she was clearly uncomfortable.

“Shall we do it together?”

Stephanie nodded her head at that, still unwilling to speak.

“Okay, what we’re going to do is… you jump on my back, and I’ll do the plane jump. That work for you?”

Stephanie nodded again. Dick leant down, allowing Stephanie to clamber onto to his back. Her arms immediately went tight around his chest. He glanced back, and saw a determined look in her eyes. He slid out a grappling gun from his belt and crouched on the precipice between the jet and the open air.

“What’s up, danger?” he said, grinning widely as he jumped out of the jet.

There were very few greater feelings in the world than the rush of the open air against Dick’s face. He let out a whoop of delight as he fell, as Stephanie gripped his chest tighter. This was his favourite part of plane jumps.

He saw the roof of the museum storage on his right. He lifted his grappling gun, let himself fall for a few more seconds, then shot the hook. It buried itself in the side of the roof, swinging Dick and Stephanie towards the side of the storage warehouse. He was used to the sharp tug on his arm that always followed the sudden stop in momentum, but it still caused his shoulder muscles to twinge with pain. Dick placed his feet out in front of him, bracing his legs against the wall. In place on the side of the building, and content that Stephanie was still holding on tight, Dick tapped a button on the side of the gun, and started to walk up the side of the building as the grappling line pulled them up. It didn’t take long for him to reach the top. He allowed Stephanie to hop off his back onto the roof, then followed her up.

“How was that, Spoiler?” Dick asked as they walked towards where Kori and Barbara were waiting.

“It was actually really fun!” Stephanie replied excitedly, “When can I go again?”

Dick chuckled. Sometimes all it took was a leap of faith, so he was glad he could provide that for her. His mind was cast back to when his parents had introduced him to the trapeze. He had been terrified out of his mind, but they had encouraged him to just take that leap of faith. After that, acrobatics become like a second nature to him. A sense of longing for his parents flicked to the front of his mind, one he had not felt in a long time. He quashed it down and tried to refocus his mind on the mission. Distractions were just that – distracting.

“I hope Nightwing’s suicidal love of jumping from great heights didn’t scar you, Spoiler,” Barbara said as they reached her position around a skylight.

“I loved it! I think I’ll be able to do it myself next time!” Spoiler said excitedly.

Barbara put her palm to her face with a resigned sigh. Kori snickered quietly.

“You’ve contaminated another one, you big blue maniac,” Barbara said, rounding on Dick. He held his hands up innocently, though he suspected the massive grin on his face was giving him away.

“Starfire, just give us the mission plan,” Barbara said, her voice as resigned as her sigh.

“Batgirl’s tech has revealed around ten people inside the storage facility, at least. While we could take on a number that small easily, I want to know what the Light are planning. This is recon first, disruption second,” Kori said quietly, as they huddled together.

“Makes sense. How are we splitting this?” Dick asked.

“Spoiler, Batgirl, I want you to take the east and south sectors. Nightwing, you’re on north, I will take the west. Understood?”

The team nodded. Kori smiled.

“Okay. Titans, go!”

Dick pulled open the skylight, trying to minimise the creak. He waved his hands for the others to go in first. Kori flew in, followed by Barbara and Stephanie. Dick waited a few seconds, before diving in himself, closing the skylight behind him.

He knelt, and began to sneak around the metal walkway that he had landed on. He slid the escrima sticks off his back, prepared to get in some sort of trouble. To his far left, he could see Stephanie pull out and extend a Bo staff not dissimilar to Tim’s. Not surprising, considering she was trained by him. He continued northwards, glancing backwards to see Barbara sliding up against the wall, closer to a light source. She must have found something important.

Dick focused back on his own task; Barbara was experienced and skilled enough to handle herself. He was about to start moving again when he heard the faint murmuring of male voices. Edging forward, towards the source, Dick turned a corner to see two men standing on the walkway, wearing the uniforms of the Light. He swiftly ducked back around the corner, pressing himself against it to remove his shadow. Content that he was hidden from their view, he started to eavesdrop.

“This is a boring job, absolutely nothing going on,” said one of the men.

“Look, we just need to find the artifact to unlock the VIP’s special abilities, then we’re out of here,” said the other man.

“Right, the ‘VIP’,” the first man said mockingly, “That we’ve never seen, or know anything about. Sounds like another one of Deathstroke’s fantastical pets.”

“Shut up!” the second man hissed, “He’ll kill us both if he hears you!”

Dick couldn’t pay attention to what else they were saying. The very mention of the name Deathstroke had sent his mind into a spiral, including the fact he was here at the museum storage. Deathstroke was Slade’s codename. That meant Slade was here.

A feeling of cold fury that had sat lying at the bottom of Dick’s gut for years suddenly ignited into life, centring his mind solely on Slade. A rage-fuelled revenge strategy started to plot itself out in front of Dick’s eyes. He could finally get back at the man that had tormented him and the other Titans for years.

Barely focusing past the red mist that was now clouding his eyes, Dick stepped out from his corner. The two men had their backs to him. Rookie mistake. Silent as the grave, Dick crept forwards until he was behind them. He swung his escrima sticks at the side of their heads, connecting heavily and knocking their heads together. They both slumped to the ground, out to the world.

He continued forward, keeping his eyes and ears open for anything that could be Slade. Down below he could hear rustling amongst the various exhibits in storage, but there was no sign of Slade or any other members of the Light.

He was so focused on Slade and the Light, that apparently Kori did not even register in his mind. Until he walked into her. He spluttered, falling backwards slightly. Kori spun around, green energy blazing in her hands, until she realised it was him.

“Nightwing, what are you doing?” she whispered.

He had been distracted slightly from his single-minded mission, but he crouched again, mind again centred on Slade.

“Slade is here,” Dick seethed back.

Kori cocked her head to the side, examining him curiously.

“And you mean to take him down yourself?”

“I’ll give it a shot.”

Kori tutted at him and put her hands on either side of his face, cradling it softly. Dick was pulled briefly out of his rage-induced stupor by her warm hands, their comfort making him feel safe.

“Dick, listen,” Kori said softly, “You are too focused on Slade, like you were all those years ago. You are not alone in this fight.”

It was as if an electric shock had zapped through his mind, snapping his rage like a twig. He sat back on the cold metal of the walkway, vaguely staring at Kori, allowing her eyes to tether him to reality. The sudden disappearance of the rage that had been churning about in his gut left him feeling somewhat empty.

‘Shit’ was all Dick could bring himself to say. Kori covered her mouth with her palm to stop herself from giggling. She held her other hand out to him. Dick took it without question, letting her help him up.

“Come on, Nightwing, let us find out exactly what is going on here,” Kori said.

“Okay,” Dick replied, still struggling to find more than one word.

They snuck further around the walkways, looking for signs of Slade or the Light. Dick took the time to focus on each step, slowly able to replace the rage with determination, the red mist with clear sight. They had reached another corner when Kori suddenly stopped. Dick became very aware he was still holding her hand, and quickly pulled it back.

“I must ask,” she said, “What is with the hood? You did not used to have it.”

“Batgirl thinks it looks good,” Dick said, a surge of embarrassment making him blush.

Kori laughed quietly.

“I am questioning Batgirl’s fashion sense.”

Dick didn’t reply, instead simply lowering the hood, trying very hard to ignore how red his face must be. Let it be said that he had also been on the fence about the hood; it was Barbara that had convinced him it was a good idea. He should have stuck to his guns. Something about embarrassing himself in front of Kori made him feel unwell.

“Let’s just keep moving,” Dick said strongly, actively changing the subject.

Kori obliged him, though her face was still amused. Dick took the lead, not wanting to look at Kori’s face for fears that he would flush vivid red again. They had taken about three steps when there was a loud crashing sound from behind them. Spinning around, they could both see Stephanie running across the tops of various storage boxes, being chased by three soldiers of the Light. They were throwing projectiles, but Stephanie was dodging them eloquently, and shouting something offensive back at them.

“So much for stealth,” Dick said, sliding his escrima sticks off his back.

“It does tend to end up this way, doesn’t it?” Kori said, hands igniting with green energy.

Dick grinned widely at her and jumped off the metal walkway. He landed softly on one of the storage boxes. Eyeing Stephanie’s trajectory, he leapt up to the next box to the left. As he did, she rushed past him. Twirling his escrima sticks, he watched the Light soldiers jump to the box in front of him. When they realised, that he was standing in their way, they stopped. Shifting his feet into a defensive stance, Dick waited with bated breath for their next move. It did not take for the soldiers to oblige him.

All three jumped to attack him. One didn’t make it, instead getting blasted backwards by a bolt of green energy. Kori gave him a thumbs up as she flew past, moving to engage another two soldiers that had appeared. Dick smiled as he ducked under the attacks of the other two.

He quickly pivoted on his right foot before the two soldiers could attack his back. One had already lunged forward recklessly. Dick easily deflected the baton in their hand, quickly bringing his other escrima stick hard into their stomach. As they keeled over, Dick swung both escrima sticks into their face, knocking them off the box and to the ground below.

The second soldier was more wary, slowly stepping around, waiting for Dick to leave something open. Unwilling to let the man analyse his weaknesses, Dick slid forward in an aggressive manoeuvre, forcing the soldier to bring up a baton of his own to block. Dick kept one of his escrima sticks pressed against the soldier’s baton, and brought the other round to smack the side of his head. The soldier followed his partner off the box to the ground.

Dick took the moment of reprieve to look around the storage facility. It was absolutely apparent that Barbara’s tech had not been precise, because there were a lot more than ten soldiers. Stephanie was dancing around three soldiers, dodging their attacks with the grace of a ballerina, countering with swift strikes to their knees with her Bo staff. Barbara had joined the commotion, having stolen a baton from one of the soldiers, battling with several of them. Kori was swooping through the air, blasting any new arrivals with green energy.

Dick was so distracted by the other members of his team he didn’t notice the soldier come up behind him until the baton connected with his back. Crying out in pain, Dick turned to see a foot connecting with his chest, sending him tumbling off the box. He hit a few other archived exhibits on his way down, causing sharp bursts of pain all over his body with every hit. Eventually he reached the ground, connecting with the concrete hard.

He groaned. Every inch of his body was aching in pain. It felt as if every single cell within his body had somehow been battered on the way down. He started to push himself up with his arms, but every ache ignited into searing pain, causing him to collapse on the ground again. The concrete was cool and it relaxed his pains, but he knew he had to get up. He pushed again, gritting his teeth through the pain, bloody saliva dripping out of his mouth.

As he got to his feet, he was greeted with the sight of Slade Wilson looming over him, the two swords on his back giving his shadow the illusion of horns.

He shot backwards; pain drowned out by the surge of adrenaline that rushed from the bottom of his chest right to his fingers. He snatched up his escrima sticks from where they lay and held them out between him and Slade. Slade’s singular cold eye just looked over him, making Dick’s skin crawl.

“It has been a while, Robin,” Slade said in his drawling, cold voice.

“Why are you back?” Dick spat.

Slade’s eye narrowed.

“Because I have an opportunity to change the world. An opportunity I can extend to you. Join me, Robin! Together we can change the world!”

Dick shifted into an aggressive stance, heart beating loudly in his ears.

“It’s Nightwing, jackass,” he snarled.

Slade sighed and slid the two swords off his back.

“So be it. Then you will die.”

Slade leapt forward with surprising speed, swords glinting. Dick could only glance the blow away, forced to pivot to the side. Slade turned on his foot, facing Dick again, and sliced one sword forward. Dick met it with an escrima stick, metal meeting metal with a loud clang. Slade’s second sword flashed in Dick’s field of view with lightning speed. Dick was only just faster, ducking under the blow, sweeping upwards with his other escrima stick, striking Slade in the chest. He stumbled backwards, so Dick launched a kick at his chest. It connected, and Slade fell back to the ground.

“Getting slow in your old age, then?” Dick mocked.

Slade growled in response, getting back to his feet. He twirled his swords in a showy move, and started to pace in a circle, clearly daring Dick to attack. Dick smiled viciously, baring his teeth, and flicked a small switch at the bottom of his escrima sticks. Their tops started to spark with electricity. Slade’s eye widened briefly, clearly surprised, but he quickly shifted to a more defensive position.

Dick executed a swift pirouette, bringing both escrima sticks around at Slade’s head. Slade was wise to the move, bringing his swords up to block. Sparks jumped from Dick’s escrima sticks to Slade’s swords. Dick jumped back, out of range of the swords, and re-evaluated his plan of attack.

Slade didn’t give him the time, feinting forward with his left then striking with his right. Catching the blow with one of his escrima sticks, Dick exploited Slade’s open left by bringing his other escrima stick down on Slade’s shoulder. It connected solidly with a crack, and electricity sparked into Slade’s armour. He cried with pain, stumbling backwards. Dick swept forward with another attack, looking to finish the fight.

Too late, he realised it was a bluff. As soon as he moved closer, Slade crouched low, avoiding Dick’s attack, countering with a swift sideways slash into his side. The swords cut through jumpsuit and skin, leaving two bloody gashes behind. Dick screamed, and collapsed on the ground, the pain scorching and unbearable. Slade stood over him.

“Most disappointing, ‘Nightwing’. I could have taught you so much.”

Slade raised his swords, held in a reverse grip, ready to finish Dick off.

“Nightwing!” came a shout from above Dick.

Slade was blasted back into a group of giant plastic dinosaurs by two beams of green energy. Kori swept into Dick’s field of view and knelt down next to him.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Dick just groaned.

“Okay,” Kori said, her face contorted in worry. She pressed a finger to the communicator in her ear. “Miss Martian, bring the jet around. Titans, we’re leaving.”

Dick could vaguely hear the words of assent from all the team members, but he was finding it hard to focus. The gashes in his side were excruciating, and he could feel his side getting wet with his blood. His side suddenly exploded with even more pain as he felt something press hard against it.

“I am sorry, Dick,” Kori whispered into his ear, “But I have to stop the flow of blood.”

Dick scrunched his face together, trying to ignore the pain. He focused on Kori’s soft murmurings; pleasantries spoken into his ear. The only thing keeping him from passing out was her voice. He felt her arms scoop up under him, and the sudden disappearance of the ground below him. The pain was still there, throbbing and burning, but he felt safe and comfortable in Kori’s arms.

Somewhere between the storage facility and Miss Martian’s jet, he passed out.

***

He came to in a soft bed, a tight bandage wrapped around the wound in his side. He glanced around, realising he was in a small room. On his left, sitting in chairs, were Barbara, Kori, and Stephanie, all looking very worried. Stephanie wasn’t in costume, but Kori and Batgirl were.

“How long have I been out?” Dick croaked.

“About nine hours,” Barbara said.

Dick rested his head back against his pillow. That would explain why he felt so out of it all. He hadn’t been unconscious for longer than six hours in a very long time, including sleep.

“I hope you haven’t been at my side for the whole nine hours,” Dick said, turning his head to face the three.

“Batgirl and Starfire have,” Stephanie said, “I, of course, had better things to do rather than wait for you to regain consciousness, once we knew you weren’t going to die.”

“Charming, aren’t you?” Dick said.

Stephanie smirked.

“Well, I think it best that we give you and Batgirl a moment,” Kori said suddenly, getting up very quickly. Stephanie looked like she wanted to protest, but she wasn’t given a chance, Kori ushering her out while shushing. Part of Dick wanted to call Kori back, like something was missing without her in the room, but he didn’t act on it.

“Hey, you,” Dick said quietly, looking at Barbara.

“Hi,” Barbara yawned, “I am very tired.”

“You didn’t have to stay up and wait for me.”

“I don’t _have_ to do anything.”

“Okay, fair point.”

They let the silence lay for a while, enjoying the comfort of each other’s company, before Barbara very obviously looked at Dick, ready to say something.

“What is it?” Dick asked.

“Starfire wants to have another briefing after you’re cleared, but I was thinking we could go on a dinner date afterwards? There’s this nice place in town, but don’t feel obligated to, you are still injur –“

“Barbara, I’d love to,” Dick interrupted, smiling softly.

Barbara beamed at him.

“Okay! It’s a date!”

Dick found himself looking forward to it. It had been a long while since he and Barbara had been able to take some time for themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slade Wilson's first scenes! I hope it was enjoyable.  
> Next chapter should come next week, and it will revolve around events that occur on Dick and Barbara's date.
> 
> Comments and criticism are welcome and appreciated.  
> Thanks for reading!


	5. The Worst Day Ever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick Grayson does not have a good day.

Dick was discharged from the medical centre after three days. He’d been itching to get out and about very quickly after he had woken up, never having been one to sit around doing nothing. The doctor had warned him that he shouldn’t do anything too physically gruelling for a week or so, for fears of re-opening the wound in his side. Whether he would follow that advice was a different point altogether.

Barbara met him outside the medical centre, ready to take him to Kori’s briefing. Dick gave her a weary smile when he saw her. He wouldn’t admit to anyone, but he was tired; the recovery process wasn’t hard, but it was draining, even with the advanced medical techniques the Titans had access to.

Barbara had been amazing throughout the recovery process, by his side for hours at a time. It seemed as if she was trying to spend as much time with him as possible. It was nice, even if it made Dick feel guilty every time his mind drifted to Kori.

Kori had made herself scarce, only popping in three times to visit him. The first visit she had stayed for a while, the two of them sitting in comfortable silence, Dick simply enjoying her presence. The other two visits had been frighteningly brief, as Barbara had been there, which had made Kori rush through pleasantries before leaving again. Dick couldn’t shake the feeling that something had happened between the two women when he had been initially unconscious.

“Hey, champ. Feeling better?” Barbara asked as he walked up to her.

“Just glad to be out of there. I don’t like sitting around, twiddling my thumbs,” Dick replied.

Barbara shook her head, a wry smile on her face. Dick gave her a shoulder a slight nudge with his own. Nudging him back, Barbara started to walk down the hallway towards the elevator. He fell into step beside her. The briefing room was only two floors above the medical centre, but there were no stairs on this floor, except for a fire escape.

The elevator trip was smooth, quite the opposite of the one in the Batcave, which Dick was always afraid was going to break down with him in it. No worries of that happening in the beautifully modern Titans Tower.

They stepped out together. Looking in the room, it was a lounge area. There was a large coffee table, surrounded by couches with navy blue upholstery. It was a very casual room to be holding a mission report in, but it was still set up in a way that was conducive to conversation.

Judging by the people in the room, they were just about the last to arrive. Roy and Karen were sitting next to each other, Roy leaning his head on Karen (how long had _that_ been going on, Dick wondered). Next to them, keeping a relative distance from the couple, was Blue Beetle. He was still in his armour, but his helmet was down. He was young-looking, and of Latin descent. His hair was shaved on the sides, with a black mohawk on top.

On the opposite couch sat Aqualad and Kori. There was the same distance between them as Blue Beetle’s from the couple of Roy and Karen. It made Dick’s chest surge with joy, but he desperately pushed it back down before it showed on his face. Stephanie was on the other end of the couch, slouched down, on her phone. Barbara moved them towards the spare couch. As they did, they were greeted by the team, who seemed to only just notice them. Roy and Karen shot apart, but Dick smirked in their direction, letting them know that he had seen their display of affection. Karen defiantly crossed her arms, but the blush in Roy’s cheeks gave them away. It was once they had sat down that Dick realised Gar was still missing.

“I see Gar’s punctuality hasn’t changed,” Dick mused.

“He’s still worse than Roy, which is saying something,” Karen said, ignoring Roy’s sudden glare.

At that moment, the door slammed open, and a green cheetah came running in. It skidded to a halt, just before it crashed into the table. Once still, it changed shape into a very ragged Gar.

“Sorry I’m late… again,” Gar said, breathlessly.

“Please set your alarm _even earlier_ , Beast Boy,” Kori said in scolding tone.

“Yes, mum,” Gar said moodily, actively glaring at Roy, who had started to snicker.

Gar sat next to Dick, marking the arrival of everyone who was attending the mission report. Blue Beetle threw out a small silver device. When it landed on the ground, it turned out, showing a holographic display of various different data points. On closer inspection, Dick could see that they were small descriptions of what had happened on each mission.

“Thank you, Blue Beetle, for preparing this display of key information we have discovered on our missions,” Kori said, “Please run us through what you’ve gathered.”

“Sure thing,” Blue Beetle said, “We got a couple of important things out of our respective missions.

“Firstly, Starfire’s team found, thanks to Spoiler and Batgirl, that the Light were looking for some artifact to unlock someone’s powers. Now, we have no idea if they succeeded, but I think we have good reason to believe they did, because they pulled out promptly after our own evac from the museum storage.

“Secondly, on my team’s mission, we discovered that this someone is a teenage girl. We couldn’t get much else, because the Light realised that we were there and moved her out before we could do anything. However, they were calling her the ‘Child of Light and Dark’, which probably means something important.”

Blue Beetle nodded at them once finished and sat down. There was a beat of silence before Kori stood again.

“We are keeping our eyes and ears open for any news of the Light’s movements. If you think you may be able to decipher what the Light means by a ‘Child of Light and Dark’, feel free to tell myself or Blue Beetle.”

“Maybe we wouldn’t have so much trouble figuring things out if Wingdings over there had actually captured Slade instead of getting his ass whooped,” Aqualad piped up.

The sudden verbal assault rendered the room speechless. Dick was slightly shocked. He and Aqualad had not been friendly, but to be openly hostile was a completely different ball game. Everyone else looked just as uncomfortable. Stephanie, who had only vaguely been paying attention, had sat up straight, a very clear look of murder on her face. She looked ready to say something, but Roy beat her to it.

“Listen here, fishbrain! You don’t get to say that! You wouldn’t have even lasted ten seconds against Slade,” he shouted aggressively.

“Plus, his name is Nightwing, and he’s three times the man you’ll ever be!” Stephanie added emphatically.

“Just because you’re dating Kori doesn’t mean you add anything. We all know you’re not committed to the relationship anyway!” Karen said, to Dick’s further surprise.

Dick was taken aback. He’d never had anyone stand up for him so vehemently. Despite the general unpleasantness in the room, he felt a slight bubble of happiness in his chest at his friends’ words, and at the stunned look on Aqualad’s face.

The happiness bubble was popped when he saw Kori’s face. She looked absolutely furious, her eyes blazing, aimed directly at him, as if he had planned this whole argument.

“That is enough!” Kori shouted, her voice bouncing off the walls, “I will _not_ have my team arguing like children. You are dismissed, except for you, Nightwing. I want a word.”

Dick flinched slightly at the harsh, cold tone her voice took on at the end of her sentence. It was noticed by everyone, for as they sheepishly shuffled out, he was shot a lot of sympathetic glances. Aqualad did not share the sympathy; his facial expression was somewhat gloating.

When the others had finally filtered out, Kori’s cold stance shattered. She sat back down on the couch; her shoulders were hunched, her face in her hands. She looked defeated. It was a depressing sight, the normally strong Kori looking so weak.

“Why can’t you just… get along with him, Dick?” she asked softly.

Dick was stunned. She actually thought he was behind the argument that had just happened.

“That argument had nothing to do with anything I’ve said!” Dick said, his tone defensive, “I’ve never talked about Aqualad to anyone, Kori, I swear.”

“But you don’t like him,” Kori repeated.

“What does it matter, Kori? I don’t have to like your boyfriend to work with him,” Dick said, the word boyfriend coming out harsher than intended.

Kori slowly stood up, and walked to the door. She stopped in the doorway, looking back at him with wet eyes.

“It matters more than you think, Dick,” she said sadly.

She stepped out of the room and out of sight, leaving Dick feeling miserable, for reasons he couldn’t entirely place. It had not been a great start to the day. At least he had a dinner date with Barbara to look forward to.

***

The restaurant was amazing. It had two floors, both massive and open-plan. It had high ceilings, adorned with massive frescoes, displaying famous scenes from classical myth. Hanging from the ceiling were enormous crystal chandeliers, providing the right amount of light to get the feeling of fine dining.

The place must be popular amongst the elite of Jump City, for it was only five-thirty in the evening and the building was already packed with men and women in various expensive-looking clothes.

Barbara had made reservations, fortunately, so they were led to a table for two in the corner. It was obscured from public view by a wooden partition, decorated with an intricate green vine pattern.

“This place looks really nice… and expensive,” Dick joked, sitting down. He wasn’t entirely sure how Barbara had the money to make a reservation here. Despite her double-life as Batgirl, she was essentially operating on a student’s budget. A budget that definitely did not have room for a restaurant like this.

“Bruce owed me a favour,” Barbara replied, as a way of explanation.

“I’m curious to hear how you managed to get the great Bruce Wayne to owe you a favour.”

“Then you will be curious forever, because I’m not going to tell you.”

Dick scowled, causing Barbara to giggle. Before Dick could come back at her with a witty retort, the waiter returned with the menus. They gave a good look over them before deciding on meals. Dick chose a beef Wellington and Barbara chose a chicken alfredo.

The dishes arrived promptly, and were delicious. Dick had never tasted beef so well-cooked. He was half-expecting to see Zatanna walk out of the kitchen, because for food to be as good as his meal was, there had to be magic involved.

The conversation flowed as easily as the expensive wine. Barbara was eager to talk about anything and everything, and seemed especially keen on listening to anything he said. They shared old stories that they somehow hadn’t told each other before, they made jokes about the very posh looking customers, and they gossiped about the Titans. Dick already had an idea that this dinner was going to be in his memories for a long time. His earlier argument with Kori was completely out of his mind.

They were just finishing dessert when it all came crashing down.

“Dick, I didn’t just bring us here for a fun dinner date,” Barbara said, the smile on her face dropping, the light in her eyes disappearing.

Dick felt a very present and intense dread building in the back of his mind.

“Okay…” Dick prompted.

“I think we should break up,” Barbara said.

Something in Dick just snapped. All emotion was drained out of him, like water through a drainpipe. It was replaced by an oppressive emptiness, slowly expanding from his heart outwards. The food that had been so delicious only seconds ago threatened to come back up again, its taste turned to ash.

“Why?” Dick uttered meekly.

“You don’t love me anymore,” Barbara stated. She wasn’t even saying it as an accusation, or getting angry; she was simply stating it as a fact, as certain as the existence of gravity.

“That’s not true! I do love you, I’ve never been happier in a relation –“

“Stop, Dick. Please,” Barbara interrupted, her voice slightly pleading. Dick shut his mouth.

“You don’t love me,” she continued, “And as much as I tried to delude myself into ignoring it, I can’t anymore. I’ve seen all the little glances, and the little smiles that you share with someone that isn't me.

“I’m not going to disrespect myself and let you break my heart even more when _you_ finally realise that you’re in love with someone else. I’m not trying to be cruel, Dick, but I want to get through the hurt now, not on your schedule.”

Dick had nothing to say. His throat had dried up, any words he had dying on his tongue. There was a hole where his heart should be, and his stomach threatened to throw his meal back out again. Barbara could tell, and she smiled sadly.

“I’m sorry. I still love you, more than anything, but I can’t do this anymore.”

Barbara slid out of her chair, putting on her coat. She started to walk away but stopped at the edge of the partition. Turning back again, her face was sympathetic, despite the tears in her eyes.

“Talk to her, Dick. You’re still in love, and I think she is too.”

With that, Barbara left. Dick sat in in teary silence for the next ten minutes, feeling more alone in the world than he ever had before.

***

It was half past nine at night when Dick finally returned to Titans Tower. He went straight to his room, where he was unsurprised to see that Barbara had already moved all of her things to another room. He tried not to think about it as he got into his Nightwing get-up. Before he left the room, he ripped the hood off the neck, the very thought of it making tears prick at the edge of his eyes.

He went straight to one of the training rooms, escrima sticks in hand, ready to take out his frustrations on one of the training dummies. Before he could enter, Stephanie suddenly appeared, in costume, right next to him.

“Are you heading to the training rooms? Can we do some late-night sparring, please?” she asked.

Dick almost rejected her, but he saw the hopeful look in her eyes. It warmed the pieces that were left of his heart, and he couldn’t bring himself to let her down.

“Okay, let’s see what you’ve got,” he said, feeling a small smile tug at the corners of his mouth.

Instead of going to one of the dummy rooms, they went further along, to one of the sparring rooms. It was a large space, floor and walls lightly padded to prevent the combatants from hurting themselves against the room.

Dick took a few steps away from Stephanie, shifting his stance into a defensive one, escrima sticks held close. He couldn’t see Stephanie’s lower face under her mask, but he could tell from her eyes that she was grinning. She slipped her Bo staff off her back, extending it to its full length. She took a more aggressive stance, ready to attack, waiting for his mark to begin.

“Let’s go!” Dick shouted.

Stephanie launched forward, twirling her Bo staff, giving it the illusion of having six ends. She flicked the lower end out, but Dick was wise to it, blocking the attack with his right escrima stick. He stabbed forward with his left, trying to exploit Stephanie’s open side, but she was quick to block with the other end of her Bo staff.

She spun her Bo staff, disengaging Dick’s escrima sticks. Jumping backwards, she reset, shifting her stance between defence and attack, trying to confuse him. Dick was impressed with her technique; Tim had trained her well. He sidestepped back and forth, trying to find a gap in her technique he could use. He found one. Her back foot was slow to adjust when switching to the defensive stance, which left her briefly open. He was about strike when he was reminded of analysing a similar weakness with Barbara, when a new villain had appeared in Gotham. He went cold for a second, before pushing it out of mind and jumping forward to strike.

The distraction had delayed him slightly, however, and he misjudged the attack. Stephanie was already in the defensive stance. She blocked his left escrima stick, leaving Dick overextended and open. She slipped her left foot behind his right, then pulled it back to her, tripping Dick up. He fell onto his back, and Stephanie put her Bo staff to his neck.

“I yield,” Dick said.

Stephanie looked stunned for second, before her eyes went wide with glee and she gave a shout of triumph and joy. As she pulled off her face mask, Dick could see a wide smile on her face, the happiest he’d ever seen her.

“I won! I won, I won, I won!” Stephanie stopped celebrating for a second and stared at Dick, who was still on the ground. “That was really quick. Were you going easy on me?”

“I promise I wasn’t,” Dick said, “I was just… distracted.”

Stephanie immediately clocked that something was wrong, and she sat down in front of him.

“What’s wrong, Nightwing?” she asked, voice sympathetic.

“Firstly, you must know my identity, just call me Dick,” he said.

Stephanie nodded.

“Okay, and you can call me Steph. Now, continue.”

Dick didn’t really want to tell Steph what had happened, but she looked really worried, which tugged at what was left of his heart-strings.

“Batgirl broke up with me,” he said, forcing it out.

Steph scrunched her face.

“I thought you two were so cute together! What happened?”

“I wish I knew, Steph, I really do.”

Dick did, of course, know exactly why Barbara had broken up with him, but he wasn’t going to discuss it with a fourteen-year-old, even if it was Steph. It was something he had to come to terms with himself, because he loved Barbara, and he couldn’t currently accept that their relationship was so far gone because of one other person.

“There’s a Titans party upstairs,” Steph said, breaking Dick out of his mental cage, “We should go! It might cheer you up a bit!”

Dick highly doubted that it would help in the slightest. He wasn’t ready to face anyone that wasn’t Steph (or Kori, but admitting that to himself was acknowledging that Barbara may have been right about their relationship, so he refused to). However, the return of the hopeful look on Steph’s face was not something Dick could challenge, so he nodded, slowly getting up. Steph’s face lit up with excitement, and she led the way, babbling about how good Cassie was at dancing, and about the cute boy that she sometimes made eye contact with at Titans parties. It made Dick smile, despite himself.

The smile disappeared when they arrived at the party. The common area was packed, with blaring loud music, and colourful lights flashing about. Dick ignored the hushed whispers and awed looks some of the younger Titans, following Steph, who was looking for Cassie. They quickly found her, but Dick froze. She was engaged in conversation with Barbara.

Steph was fortunately not oblivious, redirecting them to a different area of the room. Dick still caught Barbara’s eye, and she gave him a small smile, which only made him feel like throwing up.

A sudden commotion at the front of the room distracted him from feeling ill. Aqualad had moved past the crowd, pulling Kori out with him by the hand. He had a microphone in his other hand.

“If I could have everyone’s attention, please!” Aqualad said into the microphone, “It has been insinuated recently that I am not committed to my relationship with Starfire.”

Kori looked desperately uncomfortable, and was trying to edge her way back into the crowd, but Aqualad kept holding her hand tight.

“I wish to prove that I love her, and I am committed, so I planned this party as a cover for my true plan,” Aqualad continued, turning to Kori, “Starfire, I love you more than anything. You are the light of my life, and I want to keep that light shining forever.”

Aqualad knelt down onto one knee, and Dick could immediately gather what was about to happen. His heart started to beat unnaturally fast, and he could feel a cold sweat breaking out all over his body. His stomach was churning, and he felt deathly ill. He glanced back to Barbara, who was looking right at him, a horrified expression on her face. She also knew what was coming.

“Princess Koriand’r of Tamaran, would you do me the great honour of accepting my marriage proposal?” Aqualad asked grandly, pulling a shining ring out of his pocket.

Dick really had not thought his day could get any worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I'm leaving you all on a cliffhanger ;)  
> Poor Dick.
> 
> Comments and criticism are welcome and appreciated.  
> Thanks for reading!


	6. Discovered Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick and Kori discuss recent developments in their lives.

The entire party had gone silent, every member of the Titans waiting with bated breath for Kori’s answer. Aqualad had a stupid smile on his face, ring held forward so it glinted in the colourful lights. He was clearly hopeful.

Kori looked between Aqualad, the ring, the crowd (Dick was certain her gaze lingered on him slightly longer), and back to the ring again. She opened her mouth, and Dick could feel the collective drawing of breath, the general excitement for an answer palpable.

Instead of giving an answer, Kori flew out the window.

***

When it became apparent that Kori wasn’t coming back, the party got back into full swing. Aqualad had disappeared, probably to try and find her. He was unlikely to succeed; Dick had a very good idea of where she might have gone, and it wasn’t easy to find. Not that he was going to go after her either.

It had been over an hour since Kori left, and the whole thing was almost completely forgotten. Steph had gone to dance with Cassie, leaving Dick leaning against a wall off to the side. The party wasn’t really his thing, but a small part of him wanted to see if Kori came back.

“She’s not coming back, is she?”

Dick looked towards the source of the question. Karen was leaning against the wall next to him, gazing into the middle distance.

“Uh, I don’t know,” Dick replied.

“Oh, don’t be like that. You know Kori better than anyone else,” Karen said, rolling her eyes.

“Alright, alright,” Dick said, raising his hands apologetically, “She’s probably just thinking it over. She’ll be back.”

Karen nodded slowly. They stood in silence, observing the party. Dick glanced towards Karen, who had a soft smile on her face. He followed her gaze to Roy, who was in the middle of encouraging Gar to eat an entire jar of cheese puffs.

“So, how long has that been going on?” he asked. When Karen gave him a confused look, he tilted his head in Roy’s direction. A look of understanding passed over her face.

“About three months now,” Karen replied, “He was very sweet about it. Came to my door with flowers and everything.”

“Roy? Sweet? _Flowers_? I really have missed a lot in two years,” Dick said.

“Not really,” Karen said, chuckling, “He hasn’t done it since.”

Dick laughed. That was more like the Roy he knew. He was a good friend, and a talented archer, but when it came to romance, he was completely useless. Dick was reminded of the time that Roy had hit on Wonder Woman, which had ended quite disastrously for his poor heart. 

“I think you should talk to Kori,” Karen said, breaking Dick out of his reverie.

“What do you mean?” Dick asked, spluttering.

“Help her work through this whole proposal business. I bet you know exactly where she is.”

“That sounds like something Aqualad should do.”

“You and I both know that Aqualad and Kori are an abomination of a relationship, birthed from Kori trying to fill the hole you left behind. Like you and Barbara, except not wholesome or good for each other,” Karen said grumpily.

Dick didn’t mention that Barbara had broken up with him. He was still working through it, and as nice as it was to be talking to Karen again, he wasn’t ready to bare his soul out to her. There were very few people that he felt comfortable doing that with. If he were to make a list, it would consist of Wally (who he hadn’t seen in ages), Barbara (who had just broken up with him), and Kori. That line of thought brought on a sudden longing to see Kori.

He excused himself from the conversation with Karen, who simply waved him off with a knowing look in her eyes. He slipped out the door, leaving the party, trusting that Cassie could keep an eye on Steph.

Out of the party, Dick knew exactly where to go. He made his way quickly out of the tower, and headed down towards the pier on the end of the island. Before he had left the Titans, he had often come down to a small area underneath the pier that was away from the water to be alone, or to think. The only other person that knew about it was Kori, and she often used it for the same purposes. It had become a place for the two of them to be alone together – or at least it used to be.

He reached the pier, and jumped down from the left side. He followed a small path, worn down by years of use. It led under the pier, through a mess of tangled undergrowth. Once past that, Dick arrived in a small cave, that opened out to look at the Jump City harbour. Sure enough, Kori was there, staring out the open area. Dick sat next to her.

She acknowledged him with a small smile but turned back to the view. Dick joined her. It truly was a beautiful sight, the Jump City harbour glittering as if it were made of diamonds, each reflection a light in the city shining through the night darkness. A small boat passed by, sending gentle ripples through the water, creating a sparkling light show with the reflections. The city itself was a picturesque sight, full of tall beacons of yellow and white.

“Eventful night, huh?” Dick said, breaking the silence.

“You could say that,” Kori said with a snort.

There were a few more beats of silence as Dick tried to formulate his next sentence in a most careful manner.

“You don’t have to marry him, y’know,” he said slowly.

He obviously hadn’t been careful as he had hoped. Kori’s shoulders tensed and she looked away from him.

“Why? Because you don’t like him?” she asked, her voice cold.

_Oh. She thinks I’m telling her to break up with him._

Dick tried to ignore the way he felt a pang of hope that she might.

“I don’t mean breaking up with him, Kori. You just – there is no requirement to marry the person you’re dating just because they ask.”

Kori released a breath, and her shoulders relaxed. Dick was relieved. He was trying to reassure her, not make her uncomfortable and defensive.

“I know. But Aqualad has been good to me and I do not want to hurt him.”

“If he’s so good to you, he’ll understand if you say no.”

“I guess so,” Kori said, but Dick picked up on the uncertainty in her tone.

He put an arm around her shoulder as a comforting gesture. Kori responded by leaning into his shoulder, snuggling into his side. He felt an overwhelming urge to kiss the top of her head, but he refrained from doing so. He didn’t want to overstep his bounds.

He studied Kori as she settled. She was as beautiful as ever, deep red hair tumbling around her face, framing it like a picture. Her eyes were closed as she rested against him. However, Dick could see the dried tear lines running down her cheeks.

“Hey, are you alright?” Dick said, shaking her lightly.

Kori looked up at him, her face close enough to his that he could feel her warm breath against his lips. It made them tingle with heat.

“I am fine… I have just been thinking,” she responded.

“About?” Dick prompted.

“It does not matter, Dick,” Kori said, shaking her head slightly, “What about you? Are you alright?”

Dick paused before answering. Did he want to tell her about Barbara? It didn’t take much contemplating for him to realise he did. Before anything else, Kori was his closest friend. She was someone he felt total confidence in.

“Nah, I’m not. Barbara broke up with me,” Dick said, trying a nonchalant tone, but it didn’t work.

“Hm. I know. And I am sorry,” Kori replied.

“What? How? Did she tell you?” Dick asked, slightly stunned.

“She told me she was going to break up you when you were in the hospital wing. That’s why I have been avoiding you and Barbara lately,” Kori said. She studied his face before continuing.

“I’m sorry I did not say anything – I did not want to hurt you, but I can see how you might be upset. I hope that you are not mad, but I understand if –“

“Kori, stop. I’m not mad at you, it can’t have been an easy situation,” Dick interrupted.

Kori gave a small hum of happiness and snuggled further into his side. Dick held her tighter with his arm. A sudden epiphany hit him.

“I’m not sure she was the one for me,” Dick said suddenly, “I’m pretty sure I’m head over heels for someone else.”

“I understand that feeling,” Kori said, looking up at him.

Dick tried to slow his heartbeat as he met her eyes, their beautiful green absorbing him completely. She had his complete attention, every aspect of her, and he had hers. He pulled his arm back and shifted to face Kori, who did the same.

“You do?”

“Yes,” Kori said softly, leaning closer, “I do not think I love Aqualad.”

Their faces were extremely close now. Noses were millimetres away from touching, their breath softly brushing the others lips when they breathed. Dick was completely drunk on Kori’s presence, any attempts to temper his reactions forgotten. She was equally enamoured, a light blush on her cheeks, her eyes looking right into his. She started to lean forward further, and Dick suddenly felt a sting of logical thought.

“You don’t?” he said breathlessly, leaning back slightly.

Kori’s eyes widened slightly, and a small grin tugged at her lips.

“Shut up, Dick,” she said, and pressed her lips against his.

Dick’s mind went completely blank, then it exploded with fireworks. He pulled Kori closer, returning the kiss passionately. From his lips was a burning sensation, that spread pleasantly throughout his body. Her hands found their way into his hair, scrunching it in her fists. It hurt slightly, but Dick didn’t care.

She pushed forward further, and Dick fell back, bracing his head against the ground. It was cold, but he barely noticed, the kiss sending flaming waves throughout his body. Her own body was pressed against his as she lay on top of him, and it was like electricity was shooting through every part that Kori touched. It was hot and heavy, any sense of a soft kiss completely lost. His heart rate increased dramatically when Kori’s hands started to pull at the back of his jumpsuit. He let his own hands drift over her back, guiding her closer.

Kori suddenly pulled back, sliding off Dick. His lips were still burning, and he felt slightly feverish. He looked at Kori, who had gone bright red, her expression flustered.

“I am sorry – that was – I cannot do this,” she said quickly.

Before Dick could utter so much as a ‘Kori, wait’, she had flown out the open space, leaving him sitting alone. An ill feeling started to rise in his gut. A sense of worry about how this was going to affect his relationship with Kori was now at forefront of his mind.

_Good work Grayson, you idiot._

***

The party had died down by the time Dick found his way back to the tower. He ignored the various looks and greetings he received as he marched through the tower. There was one person he needed to see, someone he trusted as much as Kori.

Finding his floor, he walked slightly further down past his room. He stopped at the room three doors down and knocked quickly. It took a few seconds before the door opened, revealing a tired looking Barbara. Her eyes opened, wide with surprise.

“Dick? What is it?” she asked, confusion clear in her voice.

“I think I messed up with Kori,” he replied, “and you’re the only one I can think to talk to.”

“Again? Come in, come in, let’s talk.”

Barbara ushered him into the room, closing the door behind her. She pulled a chair over, gesturing for him to sit. He obliged, and she sat on the back of her bed, legs crossed under her.

“Okay, Grayson, what did you do this time?”

“We kissed.”

“What?” Barbara asked, almost falling off the bed, “I need the full story, now.”

“I was talking to her about Aqualad… and our breakup,” Dick replied, blushing wildly, “and she told me she didn’t love Aqualad, then kissed me.”

“Holy _shit_ , Dick! How is that messing up?”

“Because afterwards, she said ‘I can’t do this’, then flew off.”

“Oh,” Barbara said, her excitement tempered, “That is not as good.”

“Yeah, it’s not a great feeling.”

Barbara considered him thoughtfully for a few moments.

“Did you tell her how you feel, Dick?”

“Well, no, I didn’t really get the chance.”

Barbara smacked her palm to her forehead in an over-exaggerated gesture.

“That’s where you’ve gone wrong, you idiot! You have got to confess!”

“Okay, I’ll do that then, if I get the chance,” Dick said.

“You better, or I’ll get Steph to beat you up, seeing as she can outmatch you,” Barbara threatened jokingly. Dick groaned.

“She told you about that?”

Barbara grinned widely.

“She told almost everyone. Now go to bed, so you are in prime condition to tell Kori how you feel tomorrow.”

Dick stood up and went to open the door. Before he stepped out, he turned back to Barbara.

“Thank you, Barbara, truly. I know we just broke up.”

Barbara gave him a sadder smile.

“I still love you, Dick. I want to see you happy.”

Dick nodded, offering a small half-smile in return, lost for words, his heart filling with guilt. He left Barbara’s room, closing the door behind him, and went further down to his own room. Changing out of his Nightwing suit, he flopped down onto his bed.

Barbara was completely right, he had to tell Kori his true feelings, which he had not even admitted to himself. But he couldn’t lie to himself anymore. His jealousy was clearly born from the fact he still harboured feelings for Kori, and the way the kiss had set his world alight with passion was not something that could happen without love. He felt another shot of guilt at how Barbara must have felt, seeing it develop so clearly in front of her.

Dick pulled the sheets over him and buried his face into his pillow. He needed to sleep, but his mind was racing with the events of the day. Barbara breaking up with him, then the Aqualad proposal, then his kiss with Kori. He was emotionally exhausted. His feelings were in a frenzy; pain over his breakup, but hope over a possible future with Kori. All he needed to do was tell her how he felt.

_Easier said than done._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> KISS KISS KISS KISS  
> I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, because I am a sucker for Dick and Kori. Next time we find out if Dick can confess to Kori, and details about the Light's plot are further uncovered.
> 
> Comments and criticism are welcome and appreciated.  
> Thanks for reading!


	7. Child of Light and Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Titans make an attack on the Light, looking to find out more about the so-called 'Child of Light and Dark'...

Dick awoke to a loud ringing sound the next morning. He groaned loudly, and rolled over to see his phone screen lit up brightly, as a call was coming through. Squinting at the bright light, he picked the phone up to see who was calling. The name said ‘Bumblebee’.

“Karen, it is too early,” Dick said, answering the phone.

“Kori broke up with Aqualad! What the hell did you say to her last night?” Karen said loudly, ignoring Dick’s comment altogether.

Dick sat up, suddenly very awake. Pinpricks of heat started to flow over his body, wherever Kori had touched him the day before. It was embarrassing how quickly he fell apart whenever Kori was involved.

“I didn’t say anything crazy,” Dick said slowly, deliberately keeping his voice level.

“Yeah, right,” Karen said in a sceptical tone, “Anyway, get dressed and get down here. I remember when you used to always be the first one up.”

Before Dick could protest, Karen hung up. He groaned again, to no one in particular and pulled himself out of bed. The mirror on the wall reflected his red face, a side effect of hearing the news about Kori.

He got ready quickly, putting on his Nightwing costume. Heading down the hall, he reached the elevator and went down. He would not be impressed if the only reason he was needed downstairs was to get him out of bed. He needed his beauty sleep.

The elevator trip was swift, and Dick was soon on the right floor. He stepped out into an empty hallway. He had been expecting to see someone around. However, he could hear discussion from one of the rooms at the end of the hall, so he went towards it.

Dick’s hearing had not failed him. Gathered in the room were Karen, Kori, Barbara, Steph, and Blue Beetle (whose name he still had not learnt). He knocked lightly on the open door, interrupting their conversation. The five of them all looked at him.

“I hope I’m not interrupting?” he asked, smiling.

“Of course not!” Steph replied loudly, pulling him into the room, “You can tell them I’m old enough to go on the next mission!”

Dick looked at the other four. Kori and Barbara both looked guilty, but Karen was as defiant as ever, her eyes firm. Blue Beetle looked remarkably indifferent, as though the whole issue had passed him by.

“The next mission?” Dick asked, deliberately missing the point of Steph’s sentence. He wanted to know what the mission was before he took a side.

“We’ve intercepted communications using some Light tech. They’re transporting that kid through Jump City,” Blue Beetle said, suddenly taking an interest in the conversation.

“Through Jump City? That’s a confident play. Are we sure it’s not a trap?”

Blue Beetle looked somewhat offended.

“We have at least five layers of encryption in our communications hub. There’s no way they know we’re listening.”

Dick shrugged. He hadn’t been trying to offend anyone, he was just conscious to the fact that the Light weren’t an organisation to act so recklessly.

He refocused on the topic at hand, and put a reassuring arm around Steph.

“Why can’t she come on the mission? I thought she did an excellent job on the last one,” he said.

“She’s one of the youngest Titans. It’s hardly _safe_ , Nightwing,” Karen said.

Dick bumped Steph’s side to stop the oncoming rant about her age. She glared at him, a blazing fury raging behind her eyes. He shot her a stern glance, hoping that she’d realise he was about to argue for her. She seemed to understand. He was a little confused as to why he had to at all. Only a few short days ago he had been convinced by Kori and Barbara to give Steph a shot, despite her age. He suspected Karen, who had usually agreed with him in regards to children going on missions, was the driving force behind it.

“Spoiler is perfectly capable of assisting us on this mission. I know I’m not the leader of the Titans anymore, but I’d like to think you trust me enough to know that I have our best interests in mind,” Dick said eloquently.

Dick could tell by their facial expressions that he had won. Even the normally defiant Karen had softened up. Blue Beetle had gone back to an apathetic expression, almost confirming that he didn’t particularly care if Steph came along or not.

“You are right, Nightwing. I apologise, Spoiler, for our overprotectiveness,” Kori said, “But we still need one more, as Aqualad has pulled out of the mission.”

Dick shared a slightly awkward look with Barbara and Karen, who both had looked pointedly at him. Despite what they may think, he hadn’t been the one to end Kori and Aqualad’s relationship. That said, his opinion of Aqualad, already low, had decreased further; to ditch a mission because of a break-up was pretty low. Despite he and Barbara’s break-up, Dick knew he could still work with her without a second thought. Being a hero transcended personal issues.

“How about Cassie?” Barbara said.

Kori nodded thoughtfully.

“Wonder Girl is a good choice. I will ask her today, before the briefing.”

That seemed to be the end of the little meeting. Barbara, Karen, and Blue Beetle filtered out. Steph moved to follow, but stopped to shoot Dick an enquiring look, probably to see if he was coming along. He gave her a smile back, and waved her along; he would be out in a moment.

Kori was the only one left in the room. She was about to leave when Dick stopped her.

“A word, Kori?” he asked.

“About what?” Kori replied, voice cautious in tone.

“About what happened last night,” Dick said, “I heard you broke up with Aqualad this morning.”

Kori blanched.

“I do not want to talk about this now, Dick,” she said, pushing past him.

“Kori, wait!” Dick said, but it was too late. Kori had run away quickly, leaving Dick alone. It was that moment when Steph walked back in, slow clapping.

“Real smooth, Grayson,” she said.

“Sarcasm isn’t a good look, Steph,” Dick scolded, though he could feel his face betray him by flushing red.

“Wanna do some training to get your mind off of your lack of smoothness?”

“I am smooth!” Dick protested, but Steph was already walking towards the training area.

***

Dick and Steph were onto their fifth round of sparring, both sweaty and bruised, when their Titans communicators started to beep. 

“We should see what that is,” Dick said.

“And let you get a third win when we’re both on two? I don’t think so,” Steph said, with a smirk that Dick could see in her eyes.

“Then I guess I need to remind you why you’re a _junior_ Titan,” Dick said, smirking back, shifting into his standard defensive position.

Despite his confident statement, Dick wasn’t about to underestimate Steph. He’d already done that the first two rounds, and had ended up flat on his ass twice, with two new bruises, one on his ribs, the other on his left thigh.

Once he’d started taking it seriously, he’d won twice in a row; he was trained by Batman, while Steph was only trained by Tim. However, she’d still put up a decent fight, and she certainly never gave up. It was one of the qualities Dick liked the most in Steph; despite everything she’d been through, she still kept going.

A loud cough pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked to see Steph tapping her foot on the ground impatiently. 

“Sorry!” he called, “Let’s go!”

On ‘go’, Steph leapt forward, Bo staff twirling in her signature fashion. Dick was used to the manoeuvre by now, and angled one of his escrima sticks at each end. Her Bo staff collided with them, halting its momentum, throwing Steph off balance. 

Dick swung forward with both escrima sticks at Steph’s open middle. She managed to regain her footing in time to bring her Bo staff around to deflect the strike to her shoulder. She twirled around, carried by the force of the blow, and ended up behind him, her back to his. She struck his back with the bottom end of her Bo staff, sending Dick stumbling forward, a sharp pain stinging forth from the point of contact.

Dick bent his knee, going low, twisting his upper body back, ready to protect against a possible second attack. 

Sure enough, Steph swept her Bo staff around in an overeager attack. Dick blocked it with one of his escrima sticks. Steph was again thrown off balance from the stop in momentum. This time, Dick didn’t give her a chance to recover, turning around and swiping her legs out from under her with a swift kick. She fell to the ground, and Dick pointed an escrima stick at her neck.

“I yield,” Steph said grumpily.

“Looks like I’m the best,” Dick boasted, extending a hand to Steph, “Nightwing strikes again!”

“Oh my god, you’re like a really annoying big brother, shut up,” Steph said, rolling her eyes, letting him pull her up.

Dick’s heart swelled. When he had been young, before his parents’ murder, he’d always wanted to be a big brother. B had given him that chance with Jason, but that had only lasted a few years before Jason’s death. Of course, Jason had miraculously come back to life, but he had grown past the need for a big brother. Tim should’ve been another chance, but Dick hadn’t had the chance to get to know him. 

“No, no, I see the stupid grin on your face,” Steph said, “It was a joke, you are not my big brother, _please do not start acting like my big brother_.”

Dick grinned his corniest grin, and threw his arm around Steph’s shoulders.

“Too late! Big bro Nightwing is here to stay!”

“I am begging for the sweet release of death to save me from this nightmare,” Steph muttered, but Dick could see a pleased gleam in her eyes. She was secretly loving it.

“Well then, little sis, I think we better check what our communicators were beeping about.”

Steph rolled her eyes in an exaggerated manner, but followed him to the bench where their gear was. Dick picked up his phone, which was still beeping, and was surprised to see that it was a call, not a message. He tapped the answer button and held it to his ear.

“Where are you?” hissed the voice of Barbara.

Dick flinched. Barbara’s voice only took that tone when she was annoyed to the point of anger.

“In the training rooms with Spoiler,” he replied, sounding the answer out cautiously.

“Well get yourself to the briefing room immediately, because we have been waiting for you so we can get started!”

Barbara hung up. Dick started gathering his things up quickly. Steph, who had heard the conversation, followed suit. They bundled out of the training room, and rushed to the elevator.

They arrived in the briefing room five minutes later, apologising profusely. Roy, Karen and Cassie all looked amused, Blue Beetle had his usual apathetic expression, Barbara looked furious, and Gar had the smuggest grin on his face, probably happy to not be the last to arrive for once.

Kori was standing at the head of the console, and her face was expressionless, but Dick could tell she was actively making it so. She wouldn’t make eye contact, so he moved to stand with Karen and Roy, while Steph stood by Cassie, and waited for the briefing to start. 

“Now that we are all here,” Kori said, “Blue Beetle, please talk us through what you have discovered.”

Blue Beetle stepped forward and plugged a small silver USB into the console. A holographic image of a port appeared on top of the console. 

“This is the Jump City port. The Light is moving the kid - the ‘Child of Light and Dark’ - onto a ship here, tonight. We’re going to intercept and take her off their hands.”

“Thank you, Blue Beetle,” Kori said, “We’ll be arriving as a full team, but we will then split into separate areas.

“Bumblebee and myself will cover the air. Blue Beetle and Red Arrow, you both will provide covering fire. Beast Boy, Batgirl, and Wonder Girl, you will be on the ground, dealing with Light soldiers.

“Nightwing and Spoiler, you both have the most important job. You will intercept the container that they are transporting this child in, and you will break her out. We will then retreat back to Titans Tower. Any questions?”

Dick ran through the plan in his head. It was solid, very clearly using the best abilities of each member of the team. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off with the whole operation. It seemed like an extremely risky play by the Light, to move this girl that was apparently crucial to their plans so openly.

“We’re certain this isn’t a trap of some variety?” Dick said.

“We cannot be certain, but it is a chance we have to take. The Light cannot be allowed to continue to use this child anymore,” Kori responded, voice firm, inviting no argument.

Dick nodded. She was right. He knew he wouldn’t want to risk a child being trapped in the Light’s service, even if it may be a trap. 

No one else had any questions, so they filtered out. Dick was about to follow when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around. It was Kori.

“A word?” she asked softly. Dick raised an eyebrow, but gestured for her to continue.

“I know I have not been open to a conversation with you, Dick,” she said, holding a warm hand to his cheek, which Dick forced himself not to lean into, “I promise that we will talk about us, soon - after the mission today.”

Dick could hear his heartbeat pump loudly in his ears, but he managed to murmur some form of acceptance. Kori gave him a gentle smile, before leaning in to brush her lips against his cheek. The spot on his face her lips had touched started to tingle as if it were charged with electricity. She then swept past him out of the room, her long hair swiping against his side.

He followed her out, slightly stunned at what had just happened. At least he didn’t have to worry about Kori running away at the mere sight of him anymore. His heart was yearning to have this talk now, to find out how Kori felt, whether his feelings would be crushed or accepted. He was hopeful; would she have held his face and kissed his cheek if she didn’t also have feelings for him? Dick didn’t think so, but he wouldn’t call himself an expert in the language of love.

Dick shook himself out of the depths of his own mind. They had a big mission coming up, and he had to be at his best for it. The Light would not take it easy on him because he was lovesick. 

***

The sea breeze was cold against Dick’s face as he watched over the port below from atop a pile of containers. Next to him was Barbara, with Steph on the other end of the container, the three of them waiting for Kori’s call to begin. The Light hadn’t arrived yet. Dick suspected they may be waiting for a while.

Barbara was still angry at him from the morning, refusing to talk to him at all. Dick was certain that her anger didn’t have anything to do with him being late to the briefing, but Barbara wouldn’t tell him what was wrong, and Steph couldn’t figure it out. 

“Barbara, come on. What’s wrong?” he said, trying again to get through to her. 

All that came in response was a Batmanesque grunt. 

“Don’t ‘hmm’ me. Talk to me.”

There was a beat of silence. Eyeing Barbara, Dick watched as she suddenly bent over and choked back a sob. Shocked and stunned, he moved to her side, patting her back. Tears were freely dripping from her face now, splattering against the rusted metal of the container.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Dick said, pulling her into a side hug, “You don’t have to say anything, it’s okay.”

“I’m sorry, Dick, I’m such a terrible person,” Barbara said between sobs.

“No, you’re not, you’re one of the best people I know.”

“No, you don’t understand, I’ve been mad at you because I don’t like that you’re not as sad as I am about our break-up. I literally want you to be sad to make myself feel better!”

Tears had gone from dripping to flowing down Barbara’s face. Rubbing her back more, Dick considered his next words carefully. There was no resentment about her attitude, because he knew exactly what it was like. He had spent over a week wanting Aqualad and Kori’s relationship to crash and burn, which he was certain did not make him a good person. In fact, he felt guilty at Barbara’s feelings. It was his fault, for flaunting his feelings for Kori in front of her as she tried to work through their break-up.

“I totally get it; I don’t blame you. I’ve been pretty inconsiderate about your feelings, if I’m honest.”

“You don’t hate me?” Barbara sniffled.

“Barbara, you’re still one of my best friends,” Dick said, grinning, “I couldn’t hate you if I tried.”

Barbara gave him a watery smile in response. Wiping the tears from her eyes with his hand, he pulled her up. When they were up, Barbara hugged him tightly. He hugged back, hoping to reassure her somewhat.

“Thank you, Dick,” she said quietly in his ear. He slipped out of the hug, and patted her shoulder.

“Chin up,” he said, flashing her another grin. 

He felt warmed at his reconciliation with Barbara. Dick hated conflict amongst friends, he always had. And this wasn’t even her fault, because as he had learned, emotions were hard to control.

“Titans, get ready. Here comes the Light,” said Kori’s voice over the comms.

Steph came running over and joined them as he and Barbara crouched low to get a good view of the port. Seconds later, a large group of people in dark clothing entered their view, leading a large metal box. Dick looked closer, and could see the orange and black armour of Slade Wilson beside the box. He figured that the child they were transporting must be in the box. 

Steph shifted beside him, eager to get into a fight. Placing a calming hand on her shoulder, Dick waited for the word from Kori. Going any earlier could get them killed.

“Titans, go!” came Kori’s cry over the comms.

To his left, Dick could see Kori and Karen fly into the air, sending blasts of energy into the crowd of soldiers below. They started to scatter, sending gunshots back at the two. Before they could hit Kori or Karen, several explosive arrows started to burst within the crowd, followed by a quick succession of blue energy blasts. The soldiers started to panic slightly; Dick could tell by their erratic movements. 

“My turn, then,” Barbara muttered, jumping down with her grappling gun in hand. 

Once on the ground, she was joined by Cassie and Gar (who was in the form of a bear), and they charged into the mix of soldiers, slowly but surely working their way through them, knocking the soldiers down.

Dick turned to Steph, who was watching the battle below with great interest. Nudging her, getting her attention, he pulled out his grappling gun from his belt. Steph followed suit with her own.

“And now the real show begins,” Dick said, his smile wide and wild. 

They both leapt off the pile of containers, shooting their grappling guns forward. The hooks caught in a crane that was angled overhead, swinging the two of them in tandem towards the metal box. When they were about two metres away, they both released the grappling hooks, cutting loose. They hit the ground, slowing the collision with a combat roll. They came to a halt beside the box, which was unguarded, the soldiers of the Light distracted by the other Titans, Slade Wilson nowhere to be seen. Dick quickly devised a plan.

“Spoiler, I want you to get the box open and get the girl out. I’ll keep watch, keep any soldiers off your back,” he ordered.

Steph nodded, moving to the box, fiddling with the electronic lock. Dick stood in front of her, escrima sticks out, ready to defend her back. 

Action came quickly. Two soldiers ran at Dick, clearly seeing what Steph was doing. Pirouetting between the two, Dick struck at their stomachs with his escrima sticks, keeling them over. He followed up with a swift strike down on the back of their heads, knocking them out.

“Very skilled, Nightwing. It is depressing that you do not want to join me,” said an all-too-familiar drawling voice. Dick looked up. Slade Wilson was standing in front of him, swords drawn, his one eye squinting in anger.

“Nice of you to join us, Slade. I was getting bored with your cronies,” Dick mocked.

Slade did not deign to answer him, leaping forward with his swords. Quickly bringing his escrima sticks up to block, Dick then kicked at Slade’s knee, forcing him to bend down slightly. An opening was created, and Dick attacked at Slade’s head with his escrima sticks. Unfortunately, Slade was a step ahead, bringing one sword up to block, and swinging with the other, forcing Dick to jump back. Slade pressed the advantage, forcing Dick further and further back, his sword strikes so swift that Dick could do little more than block. He jumped back again, creating some space between him and Slade.

Winning this fight was out of the question. Dick was skilled, but Slade was on another level; faster to strike, quicker to react. Fortunately for Dick, he didn’t need to win. He just needed to stay alive long enough for Steph to break into the metal box. Filled with a new surge of determination, Dick readied himself, shifting his feet defensively.

Slade circled around him, analysing, looking for some sort of opening, just as Dick knew he would. Shifting his back foot forward, Dick deliberately left his core open. Slade saw it, and attacked, as Dick had hoped.

When Slade stabbed his sword forward, Dick twisted his body to the left, avoiding the attack, and brought his escrima sticks around, striking Slade’s back, sending him stumbling forwards.

It was a successful strike, but Dick knew he couldn’t do it again. There was no way someone as intelligent as Slade would fall for it twice. He moved to a defensive stance again, ready for Slade to attack.

A malevolent glint was in the corner of Slade’s eye as he stood up again, swords twirling aggressively. He snarled, and shifted his feet forward, ready to attack again.

“ _Azarath Metrion Zinthos_!” came a shout from behind Dick, and a blast of black energy slammed into Slade’s chest, sending him flying backwards out of sight.

Dick spun around and was greeted with the sight of Steph, standing beside an open metal box, and a very pale girl in a purple cloak, her face hidden in shadow by her hood. He realised that it must be the girl the Light was using. He pressed a finger to the comm in his ear.

“Titans, we’ve got the girl. Time to get out of here.”

He heard various shouts of affirmation back through the comms, and focused back on the girl. Despite her thin frame, she was reasonably tall, and she looked around Gar’s age. Her eyes gleamed out from under her hood, and they were uncertain, even fearful.

“Hey there, I’m Nightwing,” Dick said, walking up to the girl, “And this is Spoiler. What’s your name?”

The girl glanced between Dick and Steph, clearly calculating whether she could trust them or not. She seemed to decide she could, her eyes softening.

“I’m Raven, but they called me the Child of Light and Dark,” the girl said, her voice croaky and quiet, but also powerful.

“Well, Raven, we’re getting you out of here,” Dick said.

Kori and Cassie flew down beside them, Kori blasting some more Light soldiers away with her star blasts.

“Raven, this is Starfire, leader of the Titans,” Dick said, gesturing to Kori, “And this is Wonder Girl.”

Cassie beamed and Kori gave a small wave.

“Hello, Raven. We are going to carry you three out of here,” Kori said.

“No need,” Raven said, “I can fly.”

Raven hovered off the ground to prove her point. Steph and Cassie’s eyes both went wide, and even Kori looked slightly surprised. Dick grinned. He was liking this girl already.

Steph suddenly pointed behind Dick. They all turned to see Slade Wilson charging at them, swords by his sides. Dick looked back to Kori.

“Time to leave, I’m thinking.”

“Intelligent as always, Nightwing.”

Cassie picked up Steph and flew upwards. Raven followed, moving just as quickly. Kori wrapped her arms under Dick’s shoulders and pulled him tight. Despite the situation, Dick’s heart rate increased and being held so close to her. She launched upwards at speed, avoiding Slade’s attack. She turned towards the Titans Tower the distance.

Dick relaxed, enjoying the feeling of the cool open air and the feeling of Kori’s strong arms around his chest. The mission had been a success. The Light’s reckless gamble hadn’t paid off, and they had rescued Raven. It would probably take some time for Raven to adjust to the energetic life of the Titans, but Dick was looking forward to getting to know her better.

The Light still needed to be stopped, but it was a good feeling to get a win.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to come out, I've been on holiday away from my computer. I'm going to try to keep up with updates, but my university semester is starting up again, so I will be busier than I have been.  
> Next chapter we'll find out more about Raven, and Dick and Kori might finally sort out their feelings.
> 
> Comments and criticism are welcome and appreciated.  
> Thanks for reading!


	8. Welcome Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Titans welcome Raven to the team.

Seeing Titans Tower on the horizon made Dick sigh with relief. While flying away from the scene had got them out quickly, Dick had found himself glancing back every minute to ensure they weren’t being followed. Occasionally glancing up at Kori, who was carrying him, he could see her doing the same. It all seemed remarkably easy.

They landed in the area in front of the doors, the whole team that had participated in the mission. Raven, the rescued girl, put herself close to Steph and Cassie, seemingly the most comfortable around them.

“Good job, team!” Gar said loudly as he changed back from bird to man, “Glad we saved the…”

Gar trailed off as he actually saw Raven, in the most cliché beginnings of a crush Dick had ever seen. There was a beat of awkward silence, as Gar kept opening and closing his mouth like a fish, and Raven shifted slightly to put Steph between her and Gar.

“Okay, let’s get back inside! I’m tired!” Karen said suddenly, pulling Gar away by the ear, ignoring his protests. The rest of them followed them in, slightly uncomfortable. Dick moved closer to Raven.

“Sorry about that,” he said to her.

“It’s fine… just make sure he didn’t catch any flies in his mouth,” Raven said dryly.

Dick choked back a laugh. This girl had some wit, which is something Dick always appreciated. His spluttering was heard by Steph ahead of them, who slowed herself to walk alongside Raven.

“I hope this big idiot isn’t annoying you?” Steph asked, ignoring Dick’s mock glare.

“He didn’t trail off his sentence and stare when he first saw me, so I think I’ll be okay,” Raven said.

Dick couldn’t stop himself from laughing this time.

***

Raven had been placed in the same room as Cassie, until a room could be prepared for her. Once they had made sure she was settled into Titans Tower, the mission team (excluding Steph and Cassie, who were told to stay with Raven), met in a side-room a floor down.

The first topic of conversation was, predictably, Gar’s ability to embarrass himself.

“You just stopped, mouth open like a goddamn fish,” Roy said between laughs.

“I did not!” Gar complained, but his bright red face was betraying him.

“It was so awkward, I’m surprised she didn’t just leave there and then,” Karen added.

“Shut up! You guys are the worst,” Gar sulked.

“Just because we don’t freeze at the sight of a pretty girl,” Blue Beetle added, making a joke for the first time since Dick had met him.

“If we could please focus ourselves,” Kori interrupted, trying to control the smile on her face, “We need to make Raven feel welcome amongst the Titans, so I would appreciate any ideas.”

This was not something Dick really had any experience in. When he had been a member of the Titans, they had only invited two people to join after their creation – Kori herself, and Beast Boy. However, the entire team had been new, and young, so they hadn’t really done anything special to integrate them.

Still, it couldn’t be that hard. He suspected if he just did the opposite of whatever B did when he invited someone new into the Batman family, it would probably work out just fine. Basically, no performance analysis, and more socialising.

“I’d like to get a performance analysis of Raven’s abilities. It might help us figure out what the Light was planning to do with her,” Blue Beetle said.

_Okay, so there is a performance analysis._

“I meant in a social sense, though I do agree, Blue Beetle,” Kori said.

There was another moment of awkward silence. Clearly, they were all about as good as being welcoming as B himself. It was that moment that Steph and Cassie burst into the room.

“You’re hopeless! Turns out growing up involves losing all creativity,” Steph proclaimed loudly.

“We were listening at the door,” Cassie said, smiling, following after Steph.

“We just need to throw her a welcome party,” Steph said, barrelling on forward with her sentence.

“There is no better way to encourage socialising!” Cassie added on cheerfully.

Dick glanced around the room, trying to gauge the other Titans reactions. He was used to Steph’s boisterous nature by now, but he wondered if they were. Sure, Steph had been a member of the Titans for several months, but that was no guarantee that they had spent significant time with her.

Barbara, who had spent significant time with Cassie, was trying to conceal a silent laugh; Cassie had likely told her about various Steph outbursts, and was happy to experience one in person. Karen and Blue Beetle both looked somewhat surprised, probably due to the unexpected nature of Steph’s appearance. Gar and Roy both had massive grins on their face, which didn’t shock Dick. They had both been massive troublemakers in the original Titans team, so they were probably happy to see someone possibly take up the mantle. Kori had something resembling pride in her eyes, the corner of her mouth upturned in a slight grin. Dick smiled to himself, as she was probably happy to see Steph come more and more out of her shell.

He would have liked to say that he was the catalyst for Steph finding her feet in Titans Tower, but he didn’t really believe it. Steph was a strong person, and she already had a group of friends in the Tower. Perhaps his insistence on her coming on missions had helped boost her confidence somewhat, but Dick had no doubt that Steph would have forced her way onto a mission with or without him. He was just happy that he had been able to see Steph’s growth with his own eyes.

“A welcome party? Would you both be happy to organise it?” Kori asked.

“Yeah, of course! Wouldn’t want a bunch of you old farts trying to organise it. Except you Barbara, you’re welcome to help,” Steph said.

Barbara gave a gleeful grin in response.

“Then I leave Spoiler, Wonder Girl, and Batgirl to organise a welcome party for Raven. I look forward to seeing the results of your planning,” Kori said, “Now if you could both go to bed, instead of eavesdropping at the door.”

Steph walked out defiantly; her head held high. Cassie followed, giving sheepish apologies for eavesdropping. Dick was happy they had eavesdropped, because without their help, Dick suspected he and the senior Titans may have been discussing how to welcome Raven into their fold all evening. The joys of having a hero-focused childhood, Dick guessed.

Once the two girls had left, Kori turned back to the group.

“Before I dismiss you, I need some volunteers for Raven’s performance analysis tomorrow,” she said.

“Happy to help!” Gar said.

Someone muttered ‘of course you are’ between coughs, causing Dick and a few others to snort with laughter. Gar glared at them, but went red at the same time, ruining the effect. Kori waved her hands to calm them down.

“Thank you, Beast Boy. Anyone else?”

Dick put his arm up with a nod. He was interested in learning more about Raven’s abilities, and the best way to do that was to get into a sparring match with her. Kori nodded in acknowledgement. When no one else volunteered, Kori dismissed the group, letting them filter out to bed.

Dick moved to follow, a sense of weariness suddenly flooding through his bones. It had been a long night, and he was ready to throw his head against a pillow and go to sleep. Before he could go anywhere, Kori stepped in front of the doorway.

“I promised we would talk about us, Dick,” she said softly.

Dick froze on the spot, his heart stopping. He could feel the blood drain from his face. As much as he knew he wanted to have this conversation, his usual confidence and bravado had abandoned him. He needed to sleep, clear his head, and come back to this tomorrow.

“I know, Kori, but can we put it off a day? I’m dead tired,” Dick managed to force out.

Kori’s face fell slightly, and Dick felt a twinge of guilt at disappointing her, but he had no words to offer. He desperately needed to clear his head.

“Anyway… uh, goodnight, Kori,” Dick said awkwardly, sliding past Kori out of the room.

He heard her say goodnight behind him, but he didn’t turn back. His heart and mind were not in tandem, and there was no way he trusted himself not to embarrass himself in this state. His bedroom was calling, and he was happy to pick up.

***

Dick was woken up by his phone beeping for the second day in a row. Smothering his face in his pillow, Dick tried to ignore it. A sigh of relief escaped his lips when it stopped beeping, only for it be quashed by the beeping immediately starting again.

Dick grumbled to himself and rolled over to pick it up. The bright light made him squint, but he could see the name through the small opening of his eyelids. It read ‘Tim Drake’. It took a moment for Dick’s sleepy brain to register who that was, but once he did, he quickly pushed the answer button and held the phone to his ear.

“Tim! Robin! My young, coffee-obsessed friend! What leads you to call at this early hour?” Dick said.

“Dick, it’s nine in the morning,” Tim said, his voice dry.

“As I said, early in morning. But seriously, what’s up?”

“It’s nothing serious, I just wanted to…” Tim trailed off.

Dick sat up, holding his phone between his cheek and shoulder. He didn’t get many chances to talk to Tim, but he still felt a need to take care of him. It was his duty as the first Robin to help every Robin that came after.

“Hey, I’m here. Take your time,” Dick said, trying to make his voice soothing.

“I want to thank you for taking Steph under your wing. It really means a lot to her… and to me. She didn’t get her chance in Gotham, and she deserves her place in the Titans.”

Dick felt a nice surge of warmth in his chest. Hard as her life had been, Steph had an awesome support network with people that care about her. Tim, Cassie, and himself, not to mention the rest of the Titans. And for him to get a seal of approval from Steph’s closest and oldest friend in Tim, it truly was something special.

“She’s a bit of a hurricane, I would’ve ended up helping her out whether I wanted to or not,” Dick joked, “But it’s really no problem. I just wish you’d told me earlier so I could’ve badgered B into taking her on-board.”

“I still don’t get why he didn’t. He accepted me for figuring out his secret identity, so why not Steph?”

“B’s an enigma at the best of times. He’s got a particular way of doing things, and he isn’t really that accepting of stuff that might disrupt that way.

“Listen, Tim, I think I might be here with the Titans for a while, so I’ll keep looking after Steph, while you can slowly wear B down on the idea of Steph joining our weird little Bat family. He won’t be able to deny a double attack of you and I.”

There was a long period of silence, and Dick was worried that he may have scared Tim off. However, a loud exhale of breath on the other end of the line reassured him that Tim was still there.

“Thanks, Dick. I really appreciate you looking after Steph… I’ll see you next time you’re in Gotham?”

“I’ll make a point of seeking you out. See you round, Tim.”

Dick hung up the phone. Glancing at the time before he put it down, he realised Tim was right; it was now 9.05 a.m. Groaning loudly to no one in particular, Dick pushed himself out of bed and walked to the en suite, to get ready for the day.

***

He had gone straight to the common lounge at the end of his floor once he was suited up. Upon arriving, he took a headcount of who was sitting around. On a plush couch in the middle was Roy, slowly sipping from a mug. Dick assumed it was coffee; like Tim, Roy had a serious coffee obsession.

At the other end of the room were Gar and Steph, conversing with each other in low voices. Curious as to what they could be talking about, Dick made his way over. They noticed him before he could get close enough to eavesdrop, stopping their conversation and facing him. Dick looked over them suspiciously.

“What are you two scheming?”

“We’re not scheming, Dickie my boy. Nothing is going on here,” Gar said innocently.

“You realise that I was raised by the world’s best detective, right?” Dick said.

“Well, then you should know that nothing is going on,” Steph said.

Dick sighed. He should’ve known better than trying to get any information out of two defiant teenagers. He was the same when he was their age; always hiding things from B, wallowing in angst and defiance with his like-minded peers in the Titans.

Before he could try and deduce more about what they were up to, he was pulled away by the arm. He glanced at who was pulling him by, and was surprised to see that it was Raven. In the corner of his eye, he could see Gar go red and hide behind Steph. He put that out of his mind and gave his full attention to Raven.

“Is something wrong, Raven?” Dick asked.

“I can’t be here, Nightwing,” she said, with a worried tone.

“What? Why not? Are you in danger?”

“No, no. I just… I don’t fit in here. I’m a danger to everyone, a really big danger.”

Dick paused before answering. He looked closely at Raven, examining her. Her breathing was sharp and irregular, like she was short of breath. Her brow was wet with sweat, beads of it rolling down her face. Her eyes were wide with what looked like terror, and she was shaking, quite desperately. On her forehead was a red gem that was starting to glow. Dick recognised the symptoms immediately. Raven was having a panic attack.

He quickly guided Raven to the closest couch, shooing Roy out of the way. Roy looked upset for a moment, but then took a single look at Raven and understood what was happening. His mind whizzed with what he had read about panic attacks, trying to remember what he had to do. He started to rub Raven’s back in a comforting manner.

“Hey, tell me what you need,” he said soothingly.

“I’d – I’d like some w-water,” Raven stuttered.

Dick mimed drinking out of a cup to Steph, who had come over, noticing that something was wrong. She knew what he meant immediately, and came back swiftly with a large glass of water. She handed it to Raven, who took a large sip.

“You can get through this, you’re doing a good job,” Dick said calmly.

Raven nodded. Dick started to count to ten and take a deep breath, hoping to get Raven to do the same. Fortunately, she did, her breathing returning to a normal pace. Steph sat on the other side of Raven, offering words of support to her.

“I’m still too dangerous to be here,” Raven said, still shaking a little.

“What you feel might be scary, Raven, but you’re not dangerous. We’re here to help you, no matter what,” Dick replied.

Raven started to calm slightly, to Dick’s relief. The red gem on her forehead stopped glowing, and she leant back against the couch, a shaky sigh escaping her lips. Steph put an arm around her, pulling her into a loose side hug. Raven leant into it.

Dick stood up. He looked down at Raven, a (hopefully) reassuring smile on his face.

“You don’t have do the performance analysis, if you’re not feeling up to it,” he said.

A flash of determination flashed over Raven’s face.

“I’m going to. I don’t want to be treated like a fragile little girl.”

Dick nodded. He understood the determination. It reminded him of himself when he had been younger, eager to impress the great Batman. He hoped that Raven was doing it for herself, not someone else.

“Okay. I’ll see you at the level six sparring rooms around noon,” Dick said.

Raven nodded in acknowledgement, before turning back to Steph, who had whispered something in her ear. Dick left the two girls to it, trusting that Steph was mature enough to help Raven if she had another panic attack. He needed to get some breakfast before the performance analysis.

***

Kori was waiting in the viewing area of the sparring rooms when he arrived. There was no one else in the room, no one for Dick to deflect conversation onto. This was the moment Barbara had told him about – the moment where he told her how he felt. The idea of it made him go cold with fear.

It was embarrassing, his inability to control himself around Kori. It should be easy. Both of them were single, they’d already shared a kiss, and yet Dick couldn’t find the words that would allow them to take the next step. If he was lucky, Kori would take the initiative and save him the pain.

It took her a moment to realise he was there. Her face brightened significantly when she saw him, in a way that made him want to kiss her senseless right there.

“Hello, Dick,” Kori said, her voice breathless.

“Kori. Fancy seeing you here,” Dick joked meekly.

There were a few beats of awkward silence.

“Kori, I just –“ Dick started.

“Dick, I want to –“ Kori said at the exact same time.

They both stopped and stared at each other. Kori frowned.

“Please, you go first,” she said.

Dick panicked. He didn’t want to go ‘first’, he had no idea what to say.

“No, I insist that you say your thought.”

Kori frowned some more, clearly unsure what he was playing at. Not that he was playing at anything, he was just a massive wimp when it came to his feelings. Actually, he was just a massive wimp when it came to his feelings for Kori. Normally he was quite smooth about his emotional spectrum.

They were saved by Gar barging into the room, dragging Raven along. Dick was about to rescue Raven from Gar’s clutches, but he noticed that she had a very slight smile sneaking at the corners of her lips.

“Wassup, losers,” Gar said loudly.

“Beast Boy, Raven. Welcome to the sparring room. Are we ready to begin the performance analysis?” Kori said.

“We totally are!” Gar said proudly, pumping his chest energetically. Dick rolled his eyes. Gar was clearly pushing some weird sense of bravado to try and impress Raven. However, she seemed to know exactly what he was doing, judging by her all-too-knowing smile, and was still in Gar’s company, so Dick guessed that she was enjoying the whole show.

“Then we will begin. I would like to see you against a non-meta at first, Raven, so we can then compare it to you against a meta-human. Therefore, Nightwing, if you could spar with Raven first?” Kori said.

Dick nodded his assent and lead Raven down the short steps to the main sparring area. It was very similar to the one he and Steph usually sparred in, but there were more cameras around the place, to help those in the viewing platforms get a better analysis of what they were looking at, from every possible angle. There were also speakers, so that anyone in the viewing area could communicate with those sparring.

Raven moved to the far side, pulling her hood up over her head, darkening her face in shadow. Dick slipped the escrima sticks off his back, and twirled them in a flashy manner. The matter of who he was showing for was not important.

Kori’s signal to begin boomed through the speakers. Raven immediately shot up into the air, hovering well out of Dick’s attack range. He responded by angling his body back, keeping his eye on her every move, escrima sticks held in front of him to protect from any possible attacks.

They circled each other for a few moments, Dick unable to attack, Raven making no move to. However, Dick noted her hands slowly moving in a ritualistic pattern, and that she was muttering something under her breath. Remembering how she had defeated Slade, Dick put his weight onto the tips of his toes, ready to leap out of the way of any attack.

Raven suddenly swooped forward with speed, shadowy energy crackling around her hands. Dick waited until she was just about to launch the energy at him, then acrobatically leapt up, just as Raven was at her lowest point, her hands ready to release the energy. The blasts missed Dick completely, who then kicked down on Raven’s back while in the air, sending her crashing into the ground. He landed behind her as she pushed herself up.

“ _Azarath Metrion Zinthos_!” Raven shouted, before Dick could react. A massive shadowy raven burst forth from her palms, slamming into Dick’s chest. An explosion of pain spread its way through his torso. It launched him backwards with intense force, slamming him against the wall.

He slid to the ground, leaning the back of his head against the wall, trying to ignore the way his body was on fire with intense, burning pain. Fortunately, after a moment, the pain started to dull. He’d taken far worse injuries in his life.

“Dick! Are you alright?” Kori said, suddenly appearing in Dick’s field of view.

“Codenames, Starfire,” Dick said lamely. Kori glared. “I’m fine, I’ve taken far worse hits in my life.”

Dick pushed himself up using the wall, ignoring the way his body screeched in protest. Once he was standing, he could see the worried expressions on everyone’s faces, especially Raven’s, who looked like she was afraid she’d murdered him.

“Seriously! I am fine! Gar, you can take over,” Dick reiterated.

Raven and Gar both relaxed, and went to take their places in the centre of the room. Kori still looked worried about him, and tried to put her arm around him to help him walk towards the viewing area, but he waved her off. His body ached, but it was already past the point of being an active problem.

They stepped into the viewing area, and Kori gave Gar and Raven permission to start. Raven started similarly to her first fight, flying into the air. However, Gar was able to match it, transforming into an eagle and following her up. He stopped in front of her, and started speaking.

“What’s he doing?” Dick asked.

“I believe he is flirting,” Kori responded.

Dick took a closer look at the screens. Raven had a slight blush on her cheeks, and Gar was flying around her, clearly speaking. Dick put his head in his hands. This was the most typical Gar thing he’d ever seen. Beside him, Kori leaned closer to the microphone.

“If we could please focus on the task at hand, thank you,” she said pointedly.

Gar shot back from Raven, flapping wildly. Raven launched some blasts of black energy after him, which he managed to twist and avoid. They danced around each other, Raven firing off blasts of energy, while Gar shifted between different animals, trying to catch her with a paw or claw. Dick was impressed with both of their abilities; Gar’s fighting had matured significantly since Dick had left the Titans, and Raven was skilled in her own right, despite her childhood.

Dick was so enthralled by the fight that it took him a moment to realise Kori was watching him carefully. He looked back at her, raising an eyebrow in a questioning manner. She shook her head and looked back to the fight. Dick felt a minor flush of annoyance.

“Kori, come on. You have words, use them,” he said, annoyance slipping into his tone.

Kori snapped back to look at him, a fire in her eyes. His annoyed tone had not gone unnoticed.

“Do not presume to get annoyed with _me_ , Dick Grayson,” she said, fury barely contained.

Dick took a step back, stunned with Kori’s aggressive tone.

“Is this about my match with Raven?”

“It is not _just_ about your match with Raven, it is your general lack of care for your own safety! You have only been here around a week, and you have already been in the hospital wing. And that is not even mentioning all of the new bruises you have picked up from sparring with Spoiler!”

There were tears building in the corners of Kori’s eyes. She clearly believed deeply in what she was saying. But Dick didn’t agree, feeling a surge of anger into his throat. He did throw himself into things at one hundred percent, and that could lead to injuries, but it wasn’t because of a lack of care for his own safety. Doing what was right sometimes required pushing oneself to the edge, and Dick wasn’t afraid to do that.

“What are you talking about, Kori? It’s one injury and a couple of simple bruises!” Dick said angrily back.

Kori’s face shifted into one of anger, the tips of her hair starting to glow yellow with flame.

“You have not changed, Dick. You still cannot see the consequences of your actions on other people!”

“If I haven’t changed, then neither have you. You’re still living in the past!”

“Living in the past? Please tell me how that is the case?” Kori asked, eyes squinting together.

Dick did not take the moment he should have to think about his next words.

“Because you’re still living in a world where we’re together and every thing’s perfect,” Dick said coldly.

Kori’s face went flat and Dick immediately regretted what he had said. She turned away from him, focusing back on Gar and Raven’s match. Dick could clearly see a tear sliding down her cheek.

“Kori…” Dick tried, but Kori did not respond. His words were running off the blank slate that was her face.

In the sparring room, the match ended, Raven getting a blast of energy into Gar’s side, knocking him to the ground. Kori leant into the microphone.

“Sufficient work from you both. You can get cleaned up and ready for the party later tonight.”

Gar gave a mock salute, causing Raven to smile. As they left the room, Raven pressed a quick kiss to Gar’s cheek, causing him to go bright red. Any sort of faux bravado was lost as he blustered about, Raven’s smile becoming smug.

At this sight, Kori’s mouth thinned. Dick couldn’t blame her for that. The display of affection, that would normally have him pleased for Gar, was now making him sick to his stomach. As the pair left, Kori turned to face Dick.

“I will see you at the party, Nightwing,” she said, her tone chippy. She pivoted out and strode out before Dick could say anything.

He sat in the room, alone, face in his hands, feeling nothing but cold. He had started the day aiming to tell Kori how he really felt, now he had managed to burn the bridge all over again in a moment of stupid anger. It was amazing how words could so easily be twisted to hurt someone.

***

Dick did not feel like leaving his room to socialise and attend a party, but when Stephanie Brown set her mind to something, it was hard to stop her. So, when she burst into his room ten minutes before five, he was ready to attend a party in his best party clothes.

“Your clothes are great!” she said, “But your face is miserable. What’s wrong?”

The last thing Dick needed was a peppy fourteen-year-old dissecting his self-destructive love life. However, Steph was Tim’s best friend, and a lovable smart alec like him had lovable smart alecs for friends. He wasn’t getting anything past Steph.

“You screwed it with Starfire, huh?” she asked, not unkindly.

“I don’t need to talk about it, Steph,” Dick said.

“Not with me, absolutely,” Steph agreed, to Dick’s surprise. She quickly left the room, leaving his door open, and his mind confused.

It did not take her long to come back, tugging Barbara along behind her. Dick was mortified; it was bad enough to destroy his chances at one relationship today, he didn’t need to be reminded of his other failed relationship.

Steph sat Barbara down on a seat facing Dick’s bed. She then forced Dick to sit on the couch. Once they were both sat, Steph smiled and left the room, closing the door behind her. Barbara simply looked over him, her eyes calculating. It just made him feel ill.

“What was the argument about?” Barbara asked softly.

“I said something brainless and stupid, again. About how she was living in the past where we were together and happy,” Dick said with a groan.

Barbara stuck her tongue out, clearly thinking about what he had said. Her face was creased in a slight frown, which was not reassuring to Dick in the slightest. There a few more seconds of calm silence, before Barbara moved closer.

“You can apologise to her,” Barbara said.

“But I cut her deep…”

Barbara reached out and put a reassuring hand on his forearm.

“You and I both know you didn’t mean it, and so does Kori. You just have to take a moment before you say things. You’re too much like Bruce - you get defensive when you're questioned in the wrong way.”

Dick took a deep breath. Barbara, as always, was right.

“Okay, I can do that. Let’s get to this party.”

Barbara gave him a wide smile, and stood up. He followed, and they both met Steph waiting outside. Steph took a look between the two of them and grinned, seemingly knowing that things were looking up.

By the time they arrived, the party was in full swing. The common area had been transformed. There was a massive banner hanging from the ceiling that read ‘WELCOME TO THE TITANS RAVEN’ in bright red colours. Around the room were tables set up with large amounts of food. Finally, in the centre of the room there was a massive stage set up, with microphones and speakers, set around a karaoke machine. Dick wasn’t sure how Steph and Cassie had managed to set this up in one day, but it was very impressive.

Dick scanned the crowd, looking for the distinctive red hair of Kori. He couldn’t find it, but he did see Gar and Raven holding hands in a corner, talking quietly with each other. Despite everything, his heart warmed at the sight. At least things were working out for someone. He suddenly realised that must have been what Steph and Gar had been scheming about earlier - getting him close to Raven at the party. The grin on Steph's face as she saw the two almost certainly confirmed it.

They managed to lose Steph to Cassie’s clutches almost immediately, who dragged her up to the karaoke stage. As the pair launched into a surprisingly pleasant rendition of ‘Breaking Free’ from High School Musical, Dick spotted Kori. Barbara spotted her as well, and elbowed his side, trying to nudge him forward. He took the hint and started to move towards Kori, taking it one step at a time.

He reached her as Steph and Cassie reached the chorus. She was wearing a sleek, backless blue dress with exposed shoulders, and her hair was loosely flowing down her back. He stood behind her, dumbfounded by her beauty, before she realised that he was there, and turned around. The smile that was on her face disappeared, which made Dick’s heart drop like a stone.

“Kori, can I have a word in private? Please?” he asked, finding his courage. She looked over him for a moment, seemingly making her decision.

“Yes, we can, Nightwing. Lead the way.”

Dick tried not to let the way she still refused to use his name hurt him, but it was hard. It felt so detached from what their relationship had been.

He led her to a hallway a room removed from the party. Once he was satisfied that the noise from the party wouldn’t interrupt them, he stopped. Kori stopped as well, her arms crossed, her expression one of impatience, which Dick forced himself not to notice how much it hurt.

“Kori… I wanted to apologise most sincerely for what I said earlier today. I didn’t mean it; I swear to you. I was just annoyed and I lashed out. I’m always working try and control my emotions, but – well, it’s not easy,” Dick said, hoping it came across as sincere.

“How can I know you did not mean it, Dick?” Kori asked, her voice cracking along with her tough façade. She just looked hurt, like she was remembering old wounds. Dick realised this was the moment. His confidence flowed through his veins; he wasn’t scared anymore.

“I didn’t mean it because I love you, Kori. I love you more than anything in the world, and I know for a fact that you’re the person I want in my life, by my side, no matter what,” Dick said passionately, pouring his heart and soul into his chosen words, hoping that how deeply he felt was portrayed.

Kori blinked, her face blank and emotionless. Dick was counting each second in his head, as they seemed to drag out as Kori didn’t answer. His heart was beating, fast and hard, almost bursting out of his chest.

Instead of giving him an answer, Kori launched herself at Dick, pushing him up against the wall behind him, her lips pressed hard in a kiss against his own. He melted into the kiss, her every touch electric on his body. Every feeling he had ever had about Kori was translated into the kiss, like her ability to understand language through kissing had expanded to emotions. She was pressed up against him now, her body warm against his. They broke apart for a moment, their breathing heavy.

“I love you too, Dick. I never stopped,” Kori said, her voice almost sultry in tone.

Dick grinned, and pressed small kisses across her shoulders, across her shoulder blades and up her neck. She giggled and pulled him even closer, their noses bumping together. Dick leant forward slightly, and brought Kori into another kiss, this one softer, and more passionate. He was blind to the outside world, as the only thing important to him was Kori, discovering her every angle under the soft touch of his travelling hands.

“What the fuck?” came a shout from behind them. They broke off the kiss, but remained tight in each other’s arms. Looking at the source of the cry, Dick realised (with a small sense of horror) that it was Aqualad, his face twisted in disgust. Kori let out a short gasp.

“Glad you’ve moved on so easily, Kori,” Aqualad said angrily, storming off back into the party.

Dick was uncomfortable, but he didn’t feel guilty. Judging by the fact Kori remained tight in his arms, she felt the same. Aqualad might be angry, but Dick didn’t care. He and Kori were finally together again, and that was all that mattered, in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TIM CAMEO TIM CAMEO TIM CAMEO! I love Tim, he needs more love in canon.  
> Kori and Dick are finally together (after a bit of blip, Dick really needs to stop and think sometimes). Took them long enough, I'd say. But Aqualad doesn't seem happy...  
> Next chapter should hopefully come out next week.
> 
> Comments and criticism are welcome and appreciated.  
> Thanks for reading!


	9. Assault on Titans Tower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The safe haven of the Titans falls under attack.

News of Dick and Kori’s reborn relationship quickly spread into every corner of Titans Tower. Dick had been hoping to keep it to themselves for a while, maybe let a few of their friends know, but apparently Aqualad’s discovery had almost immediately led to gossip.

That being said, part of Dick enjoyed being able to openly show affection for Kori. He’d been forcing it down for so long that it was all coming out at once, probably overwhelming her, but she hadn’t been complaining, so he was happy to keep doing it.

It was two days after the party that a group of them found themselves sitting in a communal area. Roy, Karen and Cassie were sitting on one couch, Roy giving an animated explanation of why _The Silence of the Lambs_ was the greatest film of all time, to an excited grin from Cassie and a tired, but amused look from Karen. On the other side of them sat Blue Beetle and Barbara, whose heads were together, comparing their tech. Dick himself was sitting with his arm around Kori, listening to Steph give a rundown the new Bo staff technique she had learnt.

He was paying attention to Steph, because what she was saying was interesting, but part of his mind was also very focused on the way Kori was leaning up against his shoulder, her warmth and presence comforting.

Dick was distracted by Kori so it took him a second to realise the room had suddenly gone silent, and Kori had stiffened under his arm. He looked up and was shocked to see Aqualad standing in the doorway of the room, holding a tray full of hot drinks.

“Hey guys,” he said, to no response. “Okay, I get it. I skipped out on the mission, pretty unforgivable. I’m honestly really sorry, so I made you all hot chocolate in a pretty obvious attempt at bribery.”

The room remained silent, everyone staring at him, so Aqualad started to move into the room. Before he reached anyone, Gar walked in, loudly singing along to something he was listening to on his headphones. He stopped when he noticed everyone staring at him. He looked between the group and Aqualad’s tray, then pulled his headphones out of his ears.

“Dude! Did you make us hot chocolate? You are like, totally forgiven for ditching the mission,” Gar said to Aqualad, swiping one of the mugs.

Gar’s interruption popped the bubble of tension that had been slowly building. Everyone seemed to take a breath, and started to accept a hot chocolate as Aqualad went around the room. It wasn’t long before he reached Dick and Kori.

“I’m sorry about my rudeness last night. I am honestly happy you two have finally sorted your relationship out,” he said, lowering the tray of drinks to them.

Kori happily took one, clearly accepting Aqualad’s apology. She had always seen the best in people. Dick shifted to do the same, but was struck with a sudden uneasiness in his gut. There was something about the drinks that made him feel like he should avoid them at all costs, and he wasn’t one to ignore a gut feeling.

Aqualad lowered the tray further, perhaps thinking that Dick couldn’t reach the drinks. Dick waved his hand and shook his head, hoping that would be enough for Aqualad to realise he didn’t want any Aqualad did not seem to understand this clear rejection, offering the tray further forward with eagerness.

“I’m alright. Thanks for offering, though,” Dick said.

“Are you sure? They’re really good, I swear,” Aqualad said.

His insistence that a drink be taken was starting to make Dick very uncomfortable. The swirling uneasiness in his gut was still there, so he wasn’t about to ignore it. It was the first lesson B had ever taught him: always trust your gut, no matter what. Kori must have noticed his unwillingness, because she waved Aqualad away. Aqualad looked displeased that Dick hadn’t taken a drink; but not in an offended manner, more annoyed. It made Dick even more uncomfortable.

“I’ve never seen anyone so insistent that someone take a free drink,” Steph said.

“Yes, that was definitely strange,” Kori agreed.

Dick just nodded. He needed to get to the bottom of why he was feeling so uneasy, in case it was something dangerous. He resolved to keep an eye on Aqualad for the rest of the day.

***

There were absolutely more productive things Dick could be doing rather doing than following Aqualad around at a distance. However, his quarry had done nothing other than give out free drinks to every member of the Titans (not to mention offer one to Dick every time he saw him).

Dick was standing against a wall, behind a plant, when he was spotted. Fortunately, it wasn’t by Aqualad; it was Raven, who was wearing an expression somewhere between confusion and amusement.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

Dick was caught off-guard. It was kind of hard to explain why he was hiding behind a plant, subtly spying on someone that was ostensibly his teammate.

“Uh. I’m, hmm, admiring this plant?” he said.

Raven cocked her eyebrow in an unimpressed way, clearly showing that she didn’t believe him in the slightest. Dick sighed in resignation. He was going to have to explain himself, which was probably not going to look good for him.

“I’m spying on Aqualad.”

Raven frowned.

“Why?”

“I don’t have a solid reason, just a gut feeling. Has he offered you a drink today?”

A thoughtful look passed over Raven’s face for a moment.

“No, he hasn’t. He says he’s run out whenever I enter the room.”

That surprised Dick. From what he had seen of Aqualad, he was very eager to ensure that anyone he came across got a drink. So, why on earth would he not want Raven to take one? It was suspicious at best, and it made his gut swirl with an ever-increasing sense of unease.

“That’s… weird. He’s been pretty damn insistent that the rest of us take one. What makes you so special?” Dick asked, hoping maybe Raven had some insight he didn’t.

She shrugged, not helping his case in the slightest. It was annoying, but he couldn’t really blame Raven for not watching Aqualad like a hawk. That sort of mistrust of a teammate is something only he should have to worry about.

Still, he realised that he probably wasn’t going to learn anything more by spending his day following Aqualad, and should probably find something better to be doing. In fact, he knew very little about Raven, and this could be a good chance to get to know her more.

“I guess I’m not going to figure anything further out by following him around. Fancy a chat? I feel like I barely know you,” Dick asked.

“Sure thing,” Raven said, gesturing for Dick to lead the way.

He walked to one of the rooms on the floor that was uninhabited; all it had was two sofas and a coffee table. There were plenty of rooms like it in Titans Tower; the building was massive, and only had twenty or so Titans living in it on a permanent basis. There was no way to fill every room with an individual. He sat on one sofa while Raven sat opposite. She sat with her back straight and her legs crossed. There was something very aristocratic about her posture. Dick was slightly amused with the comparison to him, as he had immediately slouched slightly.

“I’d like to know how you got your powers, if it’s not too much to ask?” Dick said.

Raven took a moment. Dick could see in her eyes that it wasn’t a pleasant memory for her. He was about to tell her that she didn’t need to answer when she started talking.

“I’m the daughter of a powerful demon called Trigon. It’s given me these powers, but…” Raven trailed off.

“But?” Dick prompted.

“Trigon has a strong influence on me, and he’s trying to use me as a portal into the mortal realm, through this gem,” Raven said, tapping on the red gem embedded in her forehead, “If I lose control, he’ll take control and break into this realm.”

Dick opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. It was hard to know what exactly what to say upon learning that someone they had brought into Titans Tower to protect could potentially unleash a powerful demon on them. He wasn’t scared of Raven now, he was still willing to help her, but there were no words he could say to make her feel better. He decided to change the subject with another question.

“So, why were the Light so interested in you?” he asked.

“They want to unleash my father on the world. They supposedly have a way to control him.”

That made Dick pause. The fact the Light was aiming to unleash a powerful demon with the power to destroy the world, and could supposedly control him, was worrying at the very least. Dick suddenly felt the urge to bring in the Justice League as soon as possible. This seemed like more than the Titans could handle by themselves.

Before either of them could say another word, there was a loud boom that destroyed the silence, followed by the building shaking viciously. Once the shaking stopped, an alarm started to blare, echoing around the room.

“WARNING, WARNING! TITANS TOWER IS UNDER ATTACK! WARNING, WARNING!”

Dick shot to his feet and rushed out the door, Raven following quickly behind. He had to steady himself against the wall as the tower shuddered with another explosion. It was a good thing he had chosen to wear his full Nightwing ensemble today, because he didn’t have to get ready for whatever was happening.

Dick slid his communicator out from his belt and punched in Kori’s code. She connected immediately.

“What’s going on, Starfire?” Dick asked, running towards the stairs.

“It is the Light, they have found a way past our defences,” Kori responded, the connection crackling.

“Shit. I’ve got Raven. You want us down there?”

“I need you to take Raven and meet with Spoiler and Batgirl; they are on the third floor. Protect Raven at all costs.”

Dick gave his acknowledgement and flicked his communicator off. Glancing behind him to make sure Raven was still following, he then gestured for her to follow, which she understood immediately.

It didn’t take long for them to make the journey downstairs to the third floor. They were forced to stop occasionally, to stop the shaking building from throwing them down the stairs. Once they arrived, they were greeted by Barbara and Steph, just as Kori had said.

“Are you both alright?” Dick asked

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Barbara answered, “Spoiler’s a little shaken, but we’re ready to go.”

Dick studied Steph. Barbara was right; she looked upset and slightly shocked. It wasn’t surprising, as Titans Tower was meant to be safe, it was meant to be peaceful. However, when Steph noticed Dick’s studying, her expression hardened to one of determination, and she put on her face mask, disguising the lower half of her face. Dick knew she was going to try and help, no matter what.

“Okay, the Light are after Raven,” Dick said, “So it’s on us to make sure they don’t even get close.”

Barbara and Steph nodded to show their understanding, Steph extending out her Bo staff in readiness. Raven, on the other hand, did not look so pleased with the arrangement.

“I can take care of myself,” Raven said, raising hands glowing with dark energy.

Dick really shouldn’t have had his hopes up that Raven would just accept her role as the protected one. But, as with most of the younger Titans he had dealt with in his life, she was unwilling to be side-lined, no matter what the reason may be.

To his surprise, however, he didn’t have to say anything. Steph, determination beating out her fear, put a comforting hand on Raven’s shoulder.

“We’re not asking that you sit by and watch us fight for you, Raven. We just need to make sure the Light don’t get their hands on you,” she said softly.

Her words mollified Raven, the energy disappearing from her hands. Dick shot a thankful look to Steph, who responded with an exaggerated wink. He responded with a sarcastic eye-roll.

Barbara suddenly shouted in warning, pointing behind Dick. He rolled forward just as a shower of glass sprayed where he had been standing, coming from the windows shattering. Scrambling to his feet, he turned to see about seven soldiers of the Light ready to attack, having come through the window. He moved his stance in front of Raven, Barbara and Steph following suit. It was a stalemate, neither side ready to attack.

The Light soldiers broke first, three of them running forward to attack. Dick pirouetted to his left in a swift move, hoping his teammates would pick up on what he was doing. Barbara did, executing a spinning heel kick into the space Dick had previously occupied. The Light soldiers were moving too fast to stop. One caught Barbara’s kick right to the face, hitting the ground hard. Dick pirouetted again, striking another in the face with both escrima sticks, knocking her out immediately. The third stopped after passing Dick and Barbara, turning to face them, but forgot about Steph. She struck the man in the back of the knees then quickly in the back of the head, defeating him quickly.

The trio grouped together again, waiting for the next four Light soldiers to attack. They obliged quickly, attacking as a group, clearly hoping to overpower the three of them with sheer force. It was an attack plan that would only work in theory however. Barbara and Dick had seen enough of it on the Gotham streets to know exactly how to stop it.

Barbara pivoted behind Dick, and he ducked. Barbara used him as a springboard, then flung her legs out, catching two of them with her kicks. The move caught the other two off-guard, and Dick took immediate advantage, stabbing forward with his escrima sticks, activating the taser function. It struck both soldiers in the gut, electrocuting them. They collapsed, unconscious. The two that Barbara had kicked started to get up, but Steph was paying attention, quickly striking forward with her staff, knocking them down.

The Light soldiers had been easily defeated, and Dick couldn’t help but grin at his teammates. He was glad to see that despite everything, he and Barbara could still fight as if they were an extension of one being, and Steph had picked up on his moves quickly enough from their sparring.

His good mood was ruined when Aqualad suddenly appearing in the doorway, running into the room. In fact, he started to feel a growing sense of unease in his gut, same that he had been feeling all day around Aqualad. There was something shifty going on with the Atlantean, and Dick did not want to stick around to find out what.

“Is Raven okay?” Aqualad asked.

“She’s fine. We’ve got this, you can go help the rest of the Titans,” Dick said firmly.

Aqualad’s face twisted into an unsightly grin.

“No, I don’t think you have.”

Before anyone could even process what he meant by that, Aqualad twirled his arms in a ritualistic manner. Water magic fired out from his hands, striking Dick right in the chest with great force, launching him against the wall and holding him there. Barbara and Steph followed quickly afterwards, also hit with the water magic. Aqualad then moved his arms in a circular manner, causing water to twist around Raven, trapping her in place. He lifted his arms up, leading the water to lift Raven up. He ran out the room and down the stairs, Raven trailing after him.

The water holding Dick in place dissipated with Aqualad’s flight, setting he, Steph and Barbara free. He was completely stunned. Sure, he had been suspicious of Aqualad, but he never would have predicted such a blatant betrayal. However, there wasn’t time to reflect; they needed to save Raven from the Light’s clutches. Dick quickly flicked his communicator on again.

“Starfire, Aqualad’s a traitor! He’s got Raven!”

Dick could hear some loudly spoken Tamaranean that sounded suspiciously like swearing on the other end of the line, before Kori responded.

“We will intercept him. Get your team down here immediately,” Kori commanded, switching off the communicator line before Dick could respond. He looked to the other two.

“Let’s move. We’ve got to stop Aqualad before it’s too late,” Dick said.

The three of them quickly ran down the stairs, with no regard for their safety. Dick couldn’t speak for the other two, but all that was on his mind was saving Raven and stopping the Light’s plans before they could even start. This was their chance to capture the Light, if they could stop Raven from getting in their grasp.

It didn’t take long for them to reach the ground floor at the pace they were going. Dick was not prepared for the sight that greeted him. It was a full-scale battle, every other Titan engaging various soldiers of the Light in a desperate fight for survival. Explosion craters were everywhere, with smoke filling the air, clouding Dick’s view. Ground floor furniture was scattered about, broken and burnt, some used as last-ditch weapons by the Light and Titans alike. Dick, Barbara and Steph found their way through the maze of debris, avoiding conflict, trying to spot Aqualad or Raven anywhere in the chaos of battle.

In front of them, Cassie sent two Light soldiers flying with two quick punches. To their left, Roy and Karen were fighting back to back with fury, knocking down any enemy that came near. Dick looked around again, still unable to see Aqualad or Raven, but he did catch sight of Kori. To his horror, she was engaged in a fight with Slade himself.

She fired two starbolts at Slade, but he easily dodged them. Before she could react, Slade ducked forward, bringing his swords up in a quick slash, slicing into her shoulders. Kori cried with pain and fell backwards.

Dick saw red. The mission to find Raven forgotten, he surged forward with a roar, escrima sticks drawn. Slade heard him and twirled his swords invitingly. Their weapons clashed together hard enough to cause sparks.

“Did I strike a personal chord, Nightwing?” Slade asked, his drawling voice mocking in tone.

Dick didn’t answer, instead swiftly dropping his escrima sticks then stabbing forward before Slade could react. With the escrima sticks digging into Slade’s chest, Dick turned on the taser function, zapping Slade with electricity. Slade stumbled backwards with a grunt of pain, resetting his stance, his swords protecting his front.

Slade stabbed forward with his right, but Dick anticipated the feint, raising his right escrima stick to block Slade’s true attack. His counter caught Slade off-guard, his eye wide with surprise. Dick didn’t give him time to recover, quickly bringing his left escrima stick slamming into Slade’s side. Slade crumpled, but managed to execute a roll backwards, out of Dick’s range.

Dick was about to press forward with another attack when Aqualad appeared beside Slade, holding Raven tight in a headlock. Dick lowered his escrima sticks, rage immediately cooled. Aqualad’s appearance had split the battlefield in two, the Light on one side, the Titans on the other.

Kori stood up beside him, and he let her use him as support. He surveyed her injuries. She had shallow cuts in her shoulders which were bleeding, but it was nothing serious. On his other side, Steph and Barbara stepped up. Barbara had a busted lip and a bleeding nose, while Steph was holding her side, suffering from some injury.

“Let Raven go. Now,” Dick commanded.

Aqualad laughed in his face, and Slade pulled off his helmet, revealing a nasty smile on his face.

“Raven is ours, Nightwing. You have been defeated,” Slade said.

“You are wrong, Slade. The Titans stand together against your evil,” Kori proclaimed, “And your betrayal will not be forgiven, Aqualad. How could you do this?”

“Because none of you ever cared about me,” Aqualad sneered, “I bet you and Nightwing were screwing well before we broke up.”

Dick twisted his face in disgust. Aqualad had betrayed them because Kori had broken up with him. It was truly pathetic. Any teensy sliver of respect he had left for him was gone, shredded into tatters. A glance at Kori revealed that she felt the same, her expression hardened with disappointment.

“You can’t win against all the Titans, so just surrender, Slade,” Dick said.

Slade’s smile twisted into something far more sinister.

“Perhaps under normal circumstances, Nightwing. But today is… different,” Slade said.

He pulled a small cylinder with a red button on top out of a pouch on his belt. Dick knew what it was immediately and his heart started pumping with fear.

“No, Slade, don’t press it,” he pleaded.

Slade didn’t respond, instead sharing a smile with Aqualad before pressing down on the button. As soon as he did, every Titan started to glow with orange light. Dick watched with horror as they started to collapse, writhing and screaming with agonising pain. He’d seen this before, the first time he had faced Slade. They were pain-inducing nanites in their bloodstream. It didn’t take long for Dick to realise with terror exactly how the nanites had found their way into the bloodstream of the Titans.

“The drinks…” he said, looking at Aqualad, who was looking upon the screaming Titans with sadistic pleasure.

“It was arrogant of you to think that we would let you take Raven from our grip so easily. You should have recognised that it was all part of our plan; a chance to secure Raven and take out the Titans all at once,” Slade said.

Dick couldn’t respond. He was so overwhelmed with fear for his friends, people that he loved and trusted with all his heart. They were all in such pain, some pulling at their own skin, trying to stop the pain, but getting no relief. He looked down at Steph, whose facemask had slipped off as she spat blood, and Barbara, who was vomiting with the pain. Finally, he looked at Kori, who was screaming her lungs out, blood slowly dripping out from the corners of her eyes.

The only Titans unaffected by the nanites were himself and Raven, the only two who had not taken a drink from Aqualad. Raven had closed her eyes tight, tears sliding down her cheeks, unable to watch her friends in such pain. Dick knew he alone had to do something, he alone had to save the Titans, at any cost.

“Stop this, Slade!” Dick shouted over the screams, “Stop hurting them and I’ll join your side, I’ll become your apprentice!”

Slade heard him, and pressed the red button again. The orange glow disappeared from the Titans, the nanites switched off. Half the Titans were unconscious from the pain, the other half too weak to do anything.

“You can’t trust this guy,” Aqualad cried, clearly seeing Slade’s piqued interest.

“Nightwing would not risk the lives of his friends by lying, Aqualad,” Slade said, “Stand with me, Nightwing, and we will leave the Titans, on the condition they no longer try to stop us.”

Dick started to walk towards Slade, but was stopped by a hand on his ankle. He looked down. It was Kori, looking up at him pleadingly. He knelt down to her level, looking her deep in the eyes, trying to ignore the smears of blood around them. She held the side of his face weakly.

“Don’t go, Dick,” she said meekly, “Not again…”

He kissed her softly on the lips. She was too weak to kiss him back, but her hand stroked his face in response.

“I have to, Kori. I can’t let the Titans die. I can’t let _you_ die,” Dick said sadly, hot tears pricking the corners of his eyes. Kori pulled her hand back, not in a gesture of protest, but one of acceptance. She was letting him go.

“I love you, Kori,” Dick said as he stood up.

“I love you too,” Kori responded, slumping back to the ground.

Dick walked over to Slade, ignoring the build-up of tears underneath his domino mask. Slade grinned maliciously, and gestured for the Light soldiers to retreat.

“It is a pleasure to have you by my side once again, Nightwing,” Slade said.

Dick didn’t respond, for fears that he would start to sob. As he walked with Slade towards the Light’s transports, he allowed himself one glance back at the smoking Titans Tower. At the entrance, Kori had managed to stand herself up, using Steph’s Bo staff as a crutch. She raised one hand in a gesture of goodbye. Dick returned the gesture. They both stood for a few seconds, hands raised, before a shout from Slade forced Dick to turn around.

Dick rushed up the gangway onto the Light’s boat, ignoring the way turning his back on Kori made him want to throw up. He managed to stand next to Raven, who was still trapped tightly in water magic from Aqualad. They shared a grim expression. They were going to have to have each other’s backs from now on, trapped in hostile territory together.

The boat started to pull away and Dick again looked back on Titans Tower. He kept watching as it slowly faded into the distance, until the boat was far enough away that it was no longer visible. There was an awful feeling in the back of Dick’s mind that it might be the last time he was ever going to see the Tower. He was an agent of the Light now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I love torturing my poor characters just when things are looking good, why do you ask?  
> Sorry this took so long! I am very busy, haha. The next chapter should be out in around 2 weeks, or at least that's what I'm aiming for. We'll see how Dick handles being forced to join the Light.
> 
> Comments and criticism are welcome and appreciated.  
> Thanks for reading!


	10. Mask and Mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick must work with the Light, despite his reservations.

The boat journey had been a long one. Dick had spent most of it under the deck, by himself, trying to stop himself worrying about the Titans. He had to be strong if he was going to have any chance of stopping the Light from the inside.

Despite accepting him as his apprentice, Slade had kept Raven far away from Dick. Obviously, there was no establishment of trust yet between the two. It made it all worst for Dick. Not because he wanted to take Raven and escape, he just needed to see a friendly face, someone that wasn’t Slade, Aqualad or a Light soldier.

Well into the second hour, at least by Dick’s calculations, the boat suddenly shuddered to a halt. The journey was either over, or they were under attack. Dick hoped it was the latter.

Hope was not with Dick. His door opened and Slade walked in, flanked by two Light soldiers. In his hands was a grimy rag. A brief thought of attacking him and making a break for it flittered through his mind, but rationality won through. He would have to live with his decision to join Slade, at least for now.

“We’ve arrived,” Slade said, “But we cannot fully trust you yet, Nightwing. You will wear this blindfold to ensure you do not know where our base is located.”

Dick nodded, and let Slade tie the grimy cloth around his eyes. Soon, all he could see was darkness, and all he could smell was a distinct oil smell coming from the cloth. Expecting some sort of clean cloth from the Light was probably too much to ask.

He was led out of his room and down the corridor to where he knew the staircase to the deck was. Once on the deck, he was roughly shoved to the right. He stumbled forward, guided with firm hands, until they reached a gangway.

It was a ramp rather than stairs, which was good for him, considering he was blindfolded. They were soon onto solid ground, which Dick could tell was rock by the sound and feel under foot. Judging by the way the light filtering through the cloth dimmed, he made the educated guess that he was being taken into a cave of some variety. Useful to know, but there was one problem: he didn’t know any caves located two hours away from Jump City. Nor did he have any way to pass on any information to the Titans in the first place.

They had been walking in a straight line, further down into what Dick had deduced was an entire cave system, when a rough hand on his shoulder forced him to stop. He felt the knot in the cloth being loosened behind him, and soon it fell away, given Dick sight again. His eyes took a moment to adjust to the dim lighting, but he could soon see freely.

The sight of a massive cavern welcomed him. It was spacious, with various platforms edged into the walls of the cavern. Each platform had a mixture of soldiers and boxes, presumably full of weapons and supplies.

On the ground floor, where Dick was, were plenty of soldiers, all watching the procession of the new arrivals. There was scattered cheering as he walked past, and even more when Raven did, who was now behind him.

Slade was leading them towards a doorway at the end of the cavern, away from the groups of people and equipment. Entering the room, only Aqualad and Slade from the group of Light soldiers came in, along with Raven, whose arms had been locked together in a silver metal cylinder.

Dick took a moment to look around the room he was in. It was small, with a low roof, the opposite of the massive cavern they had just been in. In the centre of the room there was a small stone altar, that came up to about Dick’s knee. Lying on top of the altar was a long, slender knife, the blade rusted with age.

Slade picked the knife up, and Aqualad pushed Raven closer. Slade pulled Raven’s arms forward, and slowly slid the knife down her bare skin, drawing a long line of blood. Raven gritted her teeth and Dick had to stop himself from attacking Slade there and then.

Slade twisted Raven’s arm around, over the altar, causing the wound to bleed out from her arm, dripping swift drops of blood to splatter against the stone top of the altar. After a moment, the altar glowed bright blue, the blood hissing and steaming like it was on a hot pan. Soon the blood was gone, and the altar dulled back to stone.

Slade pulled a bandage out from his belt and wrapped it tight around Raven’s wound. He looked over to Dick, whose horror must have been clearly displayed on his face, judging by Slade’s mocking smile.

“She will be fine, Nightwing. It is all part of the plan,” Slade drawled.

Dick didn’t deign to answer, biting his cheek hard enough to draw blood. Slade chuckled unpleasantly and Aqualad sneered.

“You will work with us in time, Nightwing, I assure you,” Slade said, “Now let us show you your quarters. Aqualad, take Raven to her cell.”

Aqualad grabbed Raven’s shoulders and shoved her out of the room. Dick clenched his fists, finding it harder and harder to stop himself from trying to take down the Light single-handedly. Nevertheless, he managed to restrain himself, following Slade out of the altar room.

They walked through the main cavern again, their presence less noteworthy to the soldiers this time around. They went to another side passage, this one cut roughly into the stone, newer than the altar room. It looked as if it had been cut recently, likely to allow the Light to move closer to the altar.

“How did you find out about Trigon and the altar?” Dick asked.

Slade smiled. He stopped leading and fell into step with Dick.

“Already trying to learn what you can? I assure you, there is no way that you can get this information to your Titan friends, not without hurting them.”

Slade held the nanite activation button in his hand, showing it off to Dick. A surge of anger flushed through Dick’s chest, but he knew he couldn’t do anything. Not if he wanted to keep the Titans alive.

“No, I just want to know so that I can help better,” Dick said, forcing his voice level.

“I don’t believe you, Nightwing, but I will tell you nonetheless. One day, hopefully soon, you will realise that my way is the way to enlightenment.

“We discovered the reality of Trigon’s power when Raven’s mother came to one of our… benefactors, hoping that we could help her child. Of course, our benefactor saw her child’s power to change the world immediately. They passed Raven into our hands. We’ve been looking after her ever since.”

Dick grimaced. Raven’s entire life had been trapped under the thumb of the Light. To grow up in such a hostile environment cannot have been good for her. No wonder she had been having panic attacks; Dick couldn’t say that he would have coped any better with such a living situation.

“Who’s the benefactor?” Dick asked.

“You are not at the level to earn that sort of information, my young friend,” Slade replied, laughing.

“And Raven’s mother?”

“Oh, she was disposed of as soon as possible.”

Dick gritted his teeth hard together. He didn’t know what he expected to hear, that Raven’s mother had been looked after. This was the Light; they had literally just attempted to murder all of his friends. But it still made him feel sick.

They walked up with a short staircase onto a second floor, also crudely cut into the cave. About halfway down the hallway on the floor, Slade stopped, standing in front of a metal door. He pressed a button next to the door and it slid upwards, revealing a small bedroom. Slade gestured for Dick to enter.

“This is where you will be staying, Nightwing,” Slade said.

“You already had a room prepared?” Dick asked incredulously.

“You are not that important. We simply had some spare.”

Dick walked into the room, and was greeted with a sight he had not seen in years. In a glass case, up against the wall of the room, was the Red X suit. The suit that he had worn all those years ago to try and find out Slade’s plans. The suit he had sworn never to wear again after his use of it almost tore the Titans apart. The suit he had not seen since it had been stolen from a vault within Titans Tower.

“How did you find this?” Dick asked.

“Some foolish teenager was using it. I relieved him of it. It has been refitted and should fit you, though you are welcome to make more adjustments. You will need it tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? Why?”

“There are still preparations that need to be made in order to ensure our plans for Raven succeed. You will lead a team to retrieve the final piece of the puzzle.”

Slade was trying to hide why Dick was the one going to retrieve whatever the Light needed, but he knew exactly why. Blue Beetle was probably still connected to the Light’s network, as the Light’s trap had required the Titans knowing their movements. Therefore, any move they wanted to make the Titans would know about it. Slade was hoping with Dick’s leadership, the Titans would not attack. Dick knew better. Kori would not place his fate above that of the world.

Dick nodded, to Slade’s pleasure. Slade left the room, closing the door behind him, leaving Dick alone in his room. The glass case glinted in the corner of his eye. Turning back to the case, he placed a hand on it, and stared into the empty eyes of the helmet, falling into the embrace of the void.

His mind was cast back to when Slade had revealed to the Titans that Dick was Red X. He could see the looks of horror and betrayal on the faces of the Titans, his friends. He had known right then that he could never do that to his friends again. He could never go behind their back and hurt them again. And then he had. He’d hurt Kori and left, and only interacted with Wally, who’d been promoted to the Justice League after Barry’s death, leaving the Titans without any link to Dick at all.

A gut-wrenching stab of sadness forced Dick to keel over. One of the faces that had been horrified at his actions was Donna’s. The forgotten Titan. The one they didn’t speak about anymore, for fear it would upset whatever balance they had. Instead of confronting her fate, instead of talking with each other about their own mortality, they’d recruited Karen and pretended nothing was wrong.

The mortality of being a hero was something Dick had never confronted. He was raised by Batman, who was never known for his emotional understanding or ability to confront difficult feelings. But being a hero meant throwing oneself into danger willingly. It meant fighting against the odds, never giving up, even if everything looked hopeless. There was no time to think about how he could die at any moment, not if he wanted to succeed.

It was a weird time to think about the past, mortality, and what the Titans had been, before Slade, before Donna’s death, before Dick betrayed their trust time and time again. He had thought that they were past it, but here he was, about to put on this accursed suit and betray the Titans again. They had been confronted with their own mortality, the very thing they had never thought to work through, and Dick had betrayed them all to stop it.

A single tear rolled down his cheek. What was the point of it all?

***

The Red X suit fitted Dick perfectly, which made him feel weird. He didn’t know how Slade had got his exact measurements, considering he had been five inches shorter the last time he had been given a uniform by Slade. Thinking about it further would probably weird him out even more, so he stopped.

He was sitting in the back of a submarine, with his team, as they were transported towards the location of whatever it was, the final piece they were looking for. It was cramped, dingy, and smelt awful, a combination of oil and sweat. Equally unpleasant were the members of the team he was leading, who Slade had introduced him to before they had departed.

There was Brenda, who had a gnarly scar over her right eye, and hair the colour of tar. She had greeted him with a glare, and hadn’t stopped the entire ride. Fulmen was the second member. He hadn’t taken his helmet off the entire two hours that Dick had known him, but he suspected that, similarly to Brenda, there was a glare fixed right on him under the helmet. Finally, there was Georgie, with light brown hair and fluttering eyelashes, who seemed somewhat pleasant, considering she worked for an organisation that was trying to summon the devil. All Dick could really say is that it was certainly no Titans.

The trip went on for another half an hour before the small submarine shuddered to a halt. There were a few moments of motionless silence, before the submarine lurched, and began to move upwards towards the surface. It broke with a massive splash that Dick could hear through the metal walls, and bobbed slightly before settling. The captain, who was not joining them, signalled that they were clear to disembark.

The others on the team got up and moved towards the ladder that lead to the outside of the submarine. Dick slotted himself in behind them, keeping a little distance. He may have been assigned as the team’s leader, but he knew that Brenda and Fulmen at the very least didn’t trust him, and Georgie probably didn’t either. Not that he blamed them. The only reason he had defected in the first place was to save the Titans, who were almost certainly working day and night to remove the nanites from their blood stream, which would make Slade’s leverage completely useless.

The others had finally exited the submarine, so Dick clambered up, one rung at a time, breathing deeply as the air became less and less stale the closer to the open hatch. He hadn’t even noticed while he was in the sub, but now that he was in the open air, he realised just how gross and weird the air within it had been.

He reached the top, and squeezed out the hatch. The rest of the team were standing on the viewing platform on top of the sub, looking out over a small island. Dick stood up, stretching his legs out, and looked out as well. The island was small, in the sense that he never would have noticed it if he wasn’t searching it out specifically.

“This the place, boss?” Georgie asked.

Dick looked down at the wrist locator that had been attached to the Red X suit. Sure enough, there was a green dot directly in front of the red cross that designated his position. They were definitely in the right place.

“Yeah, this is it. Let’s take this in a standard two-then-two formation. Brenda, Fulmen, I want you two first, scout out the island, then give us the clear or ask for support. Understood?” Dick ordered.

Brenda grunted in affirmation, and Fulmen tilted his head down. They both leapt into the water with a splash and swam swiftly to the shore, passing out of Dick’s view quickly as they walked off the beach onto the island.

He felt an elbow into his arm. He turned to see Georgie looking at him, her eyelashes fluttering at him. A flood of awkward tension filled Dick’s mind.

“So. You single?” Georgie asked cheerfully.

“Um – no, I’m not,” Dick answered, awkwardly.

“Don’t tell me it’s one of those Titan broads.”

“Yes, it is. And she’s not a broad,” Dick said, a sudden sense of defensiveness over Kori filling his chest. She wasn’t some ‘broad’. She was the finest and strongest person he knew.

“Okay, chill out. You don’t need to defend your girl’s honour, even if she is the enemy. I don’t care that much, mate,” Georgie said, refocusing her attention on the island ahead of them.

Suddenly, their ear comms bleeped to life. Dick pressed his finger to his ear to activate it.

“Brenda, Fulmen, report. Are you alright?”

“Titans – bzzt – they’re here – bzzt – help, now!”

Dick shared a glance with Georgie before they both put their helmets on and jumped into the water. It took a few seconds to reach the shore, but once they did, they moved swiftly up the shore onto the main earth of the island. Neither of them could immediately see anything, but the loud boom of an explosion from the north meant they had a trail to follow.

Bursting through some bushes, they were greeted with the sight of Brenda and Fulmen getting thoroughly beaten by a combination of Kori, Steph, Barbara, and Miss Martian. Despite the situation, despite the fact that they were on different sides, Dick felt a surge of hope fill his chest. Just seeing the Titans able to move and fight was a massive relief.

First to spot his arrival was Kori. She swooped away from the other Titans, blasting Georgie back with a starbolt. She landed softly in front of Dick, hands still glowing slightly with green energy. Dick was stunned. It had only been a day or so since he’d last seen her, but she was so beautiful, her hair framed softly around her face, her green eyes bright with a determined gleam.

“Nightwing, is that you?” she asked.

“Yes, it’s me,” Dick said, unable to stop the inflection of happiness in his voice.

“Then I am sorry,” Kori said.

Before Dick could even hope to understand her meaning, she fired a starbolt into his chest. His suit took the brunt of the hit, but he was still launched backwards into a tree behind him and knocking his helmet off. He sat on the ground for a few moments, not in pain, just confusion.

_I am sorry about that, Dick. I am trying to make this fight look realistic._

Dick shot up. He could have sworn that was Kori’s voice speaking to him inside his head like a thought. Had he finally lost his mind? He looked around, trying to see Kori on the battlefield, but he couldn’t.

_Look up, then dodge left._

Dick, still feeling he was losing his mind, did what Kori’s voice asked. Looking up, he saw Kori flying down at him, her fist drawn back ready to punch. He quickly rolled left. Sure enough, the blast from Kori’s impact with the ground exploded where he had been standing.

_Okay, Kori, if you’re somehow in my thoughts, can you explain what the hell is going on?_

Dick only half-expected to get an answer to his thought, but he was proven wrong almost immediately.

_Miss Martian has created a psychic link between our minds, so that we can speak without the Light knowing. Now, duck._

Dick ducked as Kori fired off two more starbolts, which flew over his head. Feeling less insane, he slid his escrima sticks off his back, twirling them, ready to attack, knowing that he could tell Kori his every move.

_Well, that’s certainly clever. Left._

Dick swung at Kori’s right with one of his escrima sticks, and she dodged quickly left, after leaving it late. She was certainly making a show of it. He winked, then swung forward with his other escrima stick, albeit with a lot less force than he would normally use. It connected, though not with enough power to hurt Kori. Falling to the ground, Kori cried out in pain, selling the impact.

_Okay. Other than this show fight, what’s the plan, Kori?_

Kori got up, pushing Dick back with some force, sending him stumbling backwards.

_We’re going to let you and the Light take what you need from this island. Miss Martian has put a psychic tracker on it, and Barbara has put a nanotracker. We will be able to use it to follow you back to the Light base._

Dick was impressed. It was a good plan, and if he hadn’t been trying to pretend to fight Kori, he would have grinned at her. Instead, he telegraphed his next move, bringing both his escrima sticks down on Kori. She blocked with her forearms.

_I am going to need to you to sweep my legs out and hold your escrima sticks to my neck. Steph will then rescue me, and we will flee._

Dick followed through with this plan, sweeping his right leg under Kori’s legs, knocking her to the floor. He then pressed his escrima sticks right against her neck.

“Give up, Starfire. You can’t win here,” Dick said sneeringly.

Kori’s eyes widened, as something connected hard against the back of Dick’s head, so hard his vision blurred. Stumbling to the ground, he looked back to see an apologetic-looking Steph, her Bo staff held in her hands.

“Sorry, Nightwing,” Steph said cheerily, helping Kori to her feet, who shouted for the Titans to retreat.

Dick watched them leave, Barbara and Steph carried by Miss Martian and Kori respectively. As they flew away, Kori flicked a look back at Dick.

_And do not worry about the nanites anymore. I love you._

Kori’s voice was faint, and Dick could tell that she was out of range of the psychic link. There was no way she could hear anything he could say or think. Not that it was going to stop him.

_I love you too, Kori._

***

The rest of his team had been fine. A little battered perhaps, as Barbara, Steph, and Miss Martian had not held back in the way Kori had, but fine. They were now looking around the island for whatever it was Slade wanted them to find.

It was the third hour of looking, and Dick was getting very tired, and very hot. The island was exposed, and the sun was high in the sky, beating down on them mercilessly. He didn’t like his team, but he still felt for them somewhat; they were clearly suffering from the sun as well.

“Hey, boss! I think I found it!” Georgie yelled.

Dick rushed over to where she was, Brenda and Fulmen on his heel. Georgie was sitting in patchy grass, a hole dug into the dirt. In her hands was a small, smooth, silver sphere. Strange symbols were etched into its sides, that were glowing with a light blue tinge.

“The fuck is it?” Fulmen grumbled.

“Not our problem, Fulmen. Let’s get out of here,” Dick said.

Georgie slid the sphere into a small satchel on her belt and stood up. Dick pressed some buttons on his other wrist, sending a message to the submarine captain that they were ready for pickup. His wrist dinged in response, telling him the captain was ready to go. It was time to get out of here.

The return trip was nowhere near as long, at least in Dick’s mind. Though time as a whole seemed to be going faster, as he got closer and closer to the Light’s headquarters. He knew why. The closer he got to the Light’s headquarters, the sooner the Titans would be able to attack and defeat the Light. And that would mean his time as an agent of the Light would be over.

_I’m coming back, Kori. I promise._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! Dick has gone on a mission for the Light, but still managed to get in on the Titans' plan.  
> Next chapter will probably be around two weeks or so. It'll likely be another chapter based around Dick being in the Light, with a sprinkle of Raven.  
> I have a short story planned regarding the Teen Titans and Donna's fate, which might be coming out soon.
> 
> Comments and criticism are welcome and appreciated.  
> Thanks for reading!


	11. Counting Down the Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick Grayson waits for the Titans to make their move on the Light, whilst learning more about the Light's plan.

For the first time in Dick’s memory, Slade had an expression of genuine pleasure on his face when he was handed the small sphere that they had recovered. His unabashed grin sent shivers down Dick’s spine. The sphere clearly meant bad news, which made him think that the Titans should have taken it with them, instead of using it as a homing beacon.

Once dismissed, Dick left his team behind. He could think of nothing worse than having to pretend to get along with them during post-mission drinks. Taking the stairs two at a time, it did not take long for him to reach his room.

Closing the door behind him, he pulled off his Red X suit as quickly as possible. It still felt wrong to him, bringing with it all the memories of betrayal and mistrust that it had created originally. Now in his undersuit, he sat on the end of his bed, suddenly weary.

He was glad the Titans were, at least for now, alive and safe. There had been a nagging feeling in his mind that he hadn’t confronted, which had been considering whether Slade had simply killed the Titans once they were out of sight, so it was good to have that fear assuaged.

Still, he didn’t want to be stuck with the Light for much longer. Anything was better than having to fight with the bad guys and help them destroy the world. Hopefully the Titans would be coming soon, so that they could finally bring an end to the Light.

***

It was the first day after his mission with the Light, and Dick could barely drag himself out of bed. He had a depressing feeling that the Titans would not be liberating him on this day, and he would be forced to prance about pretending to be one of the Light for a while longer.

Still, he could imagine B’s disapproving stare at him lolling about in bed all day, so he figured he should get up and do something. Maybe this hollowed out cave had a gym or something, that he could use to take his mind off his current situation.

He dragged himself out of bed, and opened his wardrobe. Hanging within it was his Nightwing suit, and his Red X suit. Standing for what felt like an eternity, he tried to decide which one he should put on. He understood that he should wear the Red X suit, but he hated even looking at it, let alone wearing it.

He decided to risk wearing his Nightwing suit, desperate to avoid dredging forth anymore old memories like what had happened yesterday. He grabbed his escrima sticks on the way out, hoping to find some sort of training gym.

He ignored the looks of various Light members as he aimlessly wandered through the various caves and tunnels in the base. He basically knew the route in and out to his room from the entrance, but past that he hadn’t bothered to spend the time exploring the cave.

“Oi, you lost?” came a familiar voice behind him.

Dick turned to see Georgie jogging to catch up with him. He almost sped up, but he figured that he shouldn’t make enemies of every person he was meant to be working alongside. He slowed to let her catch up.

“Yeah, I’d say so. Does this place have a gym or something?” Dick replied.

“It does. I was heading there now; I’ll show you the way.”

Dick nodded his affirmation, and fell into step with Georgie, letting her take charge of the direction. She led him through a couple of side passages that Dick hadn’t even noticed. It wasn’t long before they found themselves standing in front of a row of small sparring rooms finely placed into the stone, furnished to the standard of the sparring rooms in Titans Tower.

“This is… impressive,” Dick said.

“Yeah, I don’t know where we get the money, to be honest,” Georgie said.

Georgie walked over to one of the rooms and opened its door. Stopping in the doorway, she turned back to Dick and cocked her head to the side.

“You want to spar, or are you going to commit to the whole loner thing?” Georgie said in a condescending voice.

Dick couldn’t stop himself from smiling. He had an appreciation for those who could throw about sass; it was why he liked Steph so much. He slid the escrima sticks off his back and joined Georgie in the sparring room.

Georgie moved to the other side of the room and pulled out two long knives out from her belt. They glinted in the shine from the lights in the room, the blades well-maintained and most probably very sharp.

“Knives? Are you trying to kill me?” Dick joked.

“Not if you’re good,” Georgie said, launching forward in an attack.

Dick easily blocked both knives, countering quickly by twisting his hands around to disengage, then sliding back out of her range. Before she could make another move, he dashed forward, bringing his escrima sticks down hard. Georgie took the force out of the blow with a glancing deflection, spinning around to Dick’s left, slicing into his side with one of her knives.

The burst of pain from the cut was intense, but Dick gritted his teeth and ignored it. He turned to face Georgie again, who had a sly grin on her face.

“That suit doesn’t offer you much protection, maybe you should try not getting hit.”

Dick grunted in response, moving himself into a more defensive position. Georgie was as fast, if not faster than him, so he was going to have to be smart about his movements, try to taunt her into making a reckless attack, like he often did when sparring with Steph.

Georgie circled around him, her eyes searching over him, analysing his moves and his stance, searching for an opening or some weakness that she could exploit. However, Dick was used to it, and started to shift his stance around between different defensive positions to disrupt her analysis.

She leapt forward when he was between stances, likely trying to catch him off-guard. Unluckily for her, he had been expecting that exact manoeuvre. He pirouetted to the left, dodging her attack, before slamming one of his escrima sticks into her back. Georgie stumbled forward, losing her balance, and hit the ground hard.

She spat out some blood and spit, pushing herself off the ground. He offered a hand to help her up, but she batted it away, easily standing up after a moment on the ground. Dusting down her suit, she put her knives back into her belt.

“I’d heard you were good, but now I know you are,” Georgie said, impressed.

Dick gave a slightly awkward grin. There wasn’t a manual on how to react when your enemy gave you a compliment. Someone should definitely make one, and quickly, because Dick needed it as soon as physically possible.

“Uh, thanks. I’ve had a lot of training,” Dick said awkwardly.

Georgie rolled her eyes with a sigh.

“I know that, you absolute git. Also, let’s get that cut sorted out before you bleed everywhere.”

Dick looked down at his side at the cut he’d somehow forgotten about. Adrenaline was a useful tool when crime-fighting, though it could cause issues like this, where he had an injury and would forget to do anything. Now that he had noticed it, the cut in his side started to radiate pain through his body. It wasn’t unbearable, by any means, but it was certainly uncomfortable. Not to mention that Georgie had a point; he was bleeding everywhere.

She gestured for him to follow as she left the sparring room. Indulging her, letting her lead, Dick moved out behind. Dick knew where the medical centre was, and he knew how to clean a wound by himself as well, but being polite and allowing Georgie to do it seemed like a good idea.

They quickly found their way to the medical centre. Shoving him onto a seat, Georgie pressed a bandage to Dick’s side. The cream white of the bandage was quickly stained by a spreading pool of red blood. Georgie grimaced, grabbing another bandage and wrapping it around his chest tightly. Once she was content that the bandage had been applied correctly, she sat back in the seat next to Dick.

“Forgive me if it’s too personal, but why are you a member of the Light?” Dick asked, filling the silence, “Do they pay well or something?”

Georgie snorted, taking a moment to compose herself before answering.

“It’s not about the pay, it’s about the state of the world. I look around, I see humanity killing our own planet, and no one’s doing a thing about it. The Light have a plan, and a means to achieve that plan. We’re going to save the fucking world.”

Dick nodded. He didn’t have any insightful input, though he could see why people would sign up for the Light. These were uncertain times, so for there to be an organisation actively trying to do something was undeniably appealing. Dick wondered if Georgie knew what the exact plan was, and if she knew that it involved using a demon from hell.

Probably not.

***

After taking a few days of rest to let his side heal, Dick was summoned by Slade to join him at the altar. He put on his Nightwing suit. He had spent his time resting to make some changes to its design, along with fixing the slash in its side, especially with no sign of the Titans. Instead of the blue strip, he had changed its colour to red, to mix the Red X suit and Nightwing suit together. He hoped it would be sufficient for Slade, because he was somewhat desperate to avoid wearing the Red X suit again.

He made his way down to the altar room. As expected, Slade was already waiting for him, Raven by his side, still stuck in handcuffs. Her arms were bare, and there were scars and cuts all over them. There was no sign of Aqualad, much to Dick’s relief. Two guards stood outside the cave, protecting the entrance.

“Nightwing, I’m glad you could join us,” Slade said, “The red is an excellent change, if I might add.”

Dick nodded. The sight of Raven still angered him, especially all the cuts from the knife on her arms. He couldn’t trust himself not to say anything that wouldn’t provoke or anger Slade.

“You are probably wondering why I have asked you here,” Slade said, “It is because I want you to see the final pieces of our plan falling into place.”

Slade grasped Raven’s arm tightly, causing pinpricks of white where his fingers dug into her skin. He hauled her over with force, and a flash of anger passed through Dick’s chest. His fists clenched together involuntarily, but he didn’t make a move.

Slade used his free hand to reach behind into his belt, pulling out the sphere that Dick had recovered a few days earlier. He placed it down on the altar gently. The sphere immediately started glowing an almost blinding blue. The bottom of the altar burst into unnatural green flames, that seemed to draw all of the light in the room. The flames surrounded the altar and the sphere on top, which changed colour from blue to green.

Now bathed in green light, Slade pulled out the old knife and pressed it over both of Raven’s arms. The slice was quick but deep, causing a cry of pain from Raven. Red blood flowed from the cuts on her arms, which Slade forced over the burning altar. The blood flowed from her forearms and spilled down onto the flaming altar. When the blood passed into the flames, the flames twirled into a small spinning tornado of green fire. Inside the eye of the tornado, there was a distorted view of what looked like a red wasteland.

It was almost mesmerising, this view into another world. Suddenly, a red face appeared in the view, making Dick jump back in surprise. Three sets of eyes opened with bright yellow light instead of pupils. The face was framed with massive brown antlers and long grey hair.

“WHO DARES TO DISTURB TRIGON?” Shouted the face.

“I am sorry, Lord Trigon,” Slade said, “I wish to offer you a proposition for your aid.”

“I DO NOT TAKE PROPOSITIONS, FOOLISH MORTAL,” Trigon screamed out of the void.

An unsettling smile crossed Slade’s face. He had a plan, and Dick had the distinct feeling that it was going to be somewhat unpleasant at the very best. Slade pulled Raven into view of Trigon. It had an immediate effect. Trigon’s face distorted into a cruel-looking scowl.

“In exchange for your help, we will give you Raven, your daughter, in perfectly safe condition,” Slade drawled.

“YOU THREATEN MY DAUGHTER AND EXPECT ME TO COMPLY WITH YOUR WISHES? YOUR INSOLENCE WILL BE PUNISHED, MORTAL!”

Trigon’s voice was raised so high that the ceiling above Dick literally started to shake, causing dust to fall down into his hair and onto his shoulders. He patted it off absentmindedly, his focus locked on the scene playing out between Slade and Trigon.

“The Light needs your abilities to cleanse the world of its filth. In exchange for your help, we will return your daughter to you, unharmed.”

Trigon glared with such ferocity that it seemed entirely possible that Slade may combust into flames spontaneously. Slade just smiled harmlessly.

“YOU PLAY A DANGEROUS GAME, MORTAL, BUT I ACCEPT YOUR CONDITIONS. COMPLETE THE SUMMONING RITUAL AND I WILL HELP YOU ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS.”

The vision in the tornado dissipated, and the flames died down, leaving the stone altar behind, with no sign of anything having happened, except for the fact that the sphere was no longer shining blue, the etchings in its side now glowing green. Slade picked it up and placed it in his belt.

“Nightwing, please escort Raven back to her prison cell. Don’t try anything, you will die before you get two metres out of this base.”

Dick glared but did as he was asked, flanking Raven as they left the cave. Slade walked off in a different direction, probably to report to some mysterious benefactor of the Light. Dick put him out of his mind, and guided Raven to the medical centre, sitting her down on one of the long hospital beds. He gathered some medical supplies started to clean her wounds.

“What are you doing?” Raven hissed, “Slade will kill you!”

“I’m not doing a jailbreak here, Raven, I’m just looking after your injuries,” Dick said, wrapping the cuts on her arms in bandages, similarly to what Georgie had done for him a few days prior. Once he was satisfied that she was sufficiently cared for, he helped her up. He started to lead her out of the medical centre when he suddenly stopped. She looked questioningly at him.

“I don’t know where your cell is,” Dick said sheepishly.

Raven rolled her eyes and pulled Dick along as well as she could with her hands stuck in cuffs. She led the way through more twisting tunnels. All of these tunnels and areas in this cave was certainly making Dick think that making the cave system so complicated was a somewhat foolish idea. He couldn’t be the only one that was getting lost on a regular basis.

Soon, Raven had led him to a small room hollowed in the cavern. It was separated by a large green glass-like substance, with an electronic door in the middle to give access. There were two Light guards on either side of the door. Dick and Raven walked up to them.

“Dropping off Raven, as per Slade’s orders,” Dick said. One of the guards nodded, pressing a selection of buttons next to the electronic door. It opened, and the other guard shoved Raven inside. The door closed behind her, locking her in her cell.

Dick turned to leave, but stopped. It must be lonely for her, trapped in this cell for almost all her time, with no one to interact with other than two silent guards. He moved to one end of the room, where there was still a view inside through the green screen into the cell, and sat in a comfortable position. Happy with his distance from the guards, he tapped on the screen a few times, getting Raven’s attention. She wandered over and sat next to him, separated only by the green screen.

“Has this cell been your life with the Light?” Dick asked.

“Pretty much. I can’t say I’ve had the life an eighteen-year-old is supposed to have, with parties and stuff,” Raven replied, sighing. Dick could tell that she wished it had been different.

“If it’s not too much to ask, can you tell me about your mother?” Dick asked.

Raven looked a little taken aback, but she quickly regained her composure.

“Of course. She was… distant. I think the whole experience of creating a child with an evil demon really took something out of her. I think she loved me, in her own weird way, and I miss her, but I don’t think she was exactly reluctant to palm me off to the Light,” Raven said, voice low and meek. It wasn’t easy for her to talk about, which probably shouldn’t have surprised Dick. She was the daughter of a demon that had the power to destroy the world.

“What about some good childhood memories? Surely you’ve got some of those?” Dick prompted.

Raven’s eyes lit up, and she started to regale Dick with a story about how she once played as part of a baseball team and was by far the best player on the team. Dick leant back and listened, happy to have Raven talking about happier times. With some wonder, Dick realised that it was making him feel better as well. He hadn’t realised how much he had needed a friend. He was glad that he and Raven had managed to find this time.

***

Dick was half-asleep the next evening when he heard a weird ringing sound in his ears. He sat up in bed, looking around for anything in his room that it could be, but nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary.

_Dick? Can you hear me?_

He immediately recognised Kori’s voice. The psychic link that Ms Martian had set up was working again. However, it was certainly a lot fainter than what it had been on the island.

_Kori! I can hear you, but you’re faint._

There was no immediate response. Dick sat in the darkness of his room for a few minutes, before deciding to try again. Perhaps Kori had simply been distracted.

_Kori? Are you there?_

Again, there was no response. Dick was about to give up and go back to sleep when one finally came.

_Yes! Sorry, Dick, we are not close enough for a perfect connection._

Dick’s heart leapt. Sure, the psychic connection was spotty, but the fact Kori was close enough to even talk to him was heartening.

_But you are close?_

Again, there were a few moments of nothing before he got a response.

_We are camped nearby. We are almost ready to attempt an assault on the Light, but – sorry, Stephanie wants me to say hello – but we need to know how close the Light are to achieving their plan._

Dick couldn’t have stopped the grin on his face if he had tried. Typical of Steph to interrupt an important conversation just to get her say in. But he also knew that he had the information they needed.

Earlier in the day, Slade had caught up with him when he had been coming back from a training session with Georgie. He had informed him that they were ready to summon Trigon, and that the ritual would begin tomorrow.

_Well, tell Steph she can say hello tomorrow, because that’s when the Light are going to summon Trigon to cleanse the world of whatever they consider filth._

In the moments of silence that followed, Dick found himself picturing Kori deliberating over the news alongside the Titans, as she tried to figure out a plan of attack. He couldn’t be certain, but he had a feeling she had been hoping to hear that they had a few days before they needed to act, because now all they had was an evening to prepare.

_Okay. Thank you, Dick. Tomorrow, we will stop the Light, and bring you and Raven home. Sleep well, and remember that I love you._

_I love you too, Kori._

He knew he wouldn’t get a response, and that he should try to get some sleep, but he couldn’t. His excitement was simply unable to be contained. Kori and the Titans were coming. He and Raven were going to break away from the Light. Trigon and the Light had nothing on the Titans standing together. They were going to save the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter. Sorry it took so long! Everything's ready for the final confrontation, which should be epic.  
> I'm hoping to get the next chapter out next week, as the final battle begins.
> 
> Comments and criticism are welcome and appreciated.  
> Thanks for reading!


	12. Trigon Awakens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final battle begins.

Today was the day. Not only would Dick finally be reunited with the Titans, the Light were finally going to be stopped, once and for all. Almost bouncing around the room as he got out of bed, he had a good feeling coursing throughout his body. Dressed in his new red Nightwing suit, he left his room, ready for what was sure to be an eventful day.

The stone corridors of the Light base were full with soldiers, a heaving throng if Dick had ever seen one. For not only was it the day of the Titans’ attack, it was the day that the summoning ritual for Trigon was to be completed, giving the Light the means to rule the world.

Focused in his thoughts, Dick was pulled back to reality by a sharp nudge in his side. Startled, his reflexes kicked in and he jumped back, accidentally hitting another Light soldier. He apologised profusely, and was given an annoyed grunt in acknowledgement. Looking back to where he had been standing, Georgie was stood there, shaking with silent laughter.

“You are the worst,” Dick said, scowling.

“Get over yourself, you big baby,” Georgie mocked, prompting an even deeper scowl from him.

Georgie just laughed again and started to move with the group of people. Dick caught up and then fell into step. They walked in silence for a while, but Dick kept glancing over at her. He couldn’t help but wonder if she knew exactly what they were all preparing for, or if she simply thought that the world was going to be changed somehow.

His staring became obvious, and Georgie looked at him, a question on her lips. He shook his head, hoping to dissuade her from asking, but she rolled her eyes, elbowing his side again.

“What are you staring for?”

“Do you know what the plan actually involves?” Dick asked.

“Well, I don’t know the exact specifics, but I do know that it means we’ll actually be doing something to save the world.”

Dick wasn’t exactly surprised that she didn’t, but he still found himself disappointed. Georgie had proven herself quite perceptive and intelligent in the time he had spent with her, so a small part of him had been hoping she had found out the true plan and decided to leave the Light. In the back of his mind, he could hear B scolding him for making friends while undercover, which was number one on his list of things not to do.

He figured that he should probably try and tell her exactly what the Light was actually planning, so he pulled her into a quiet side tunnel, away from the main group of Light members.

“I need you to know something important, Georgie, about what the Light is planning to do,” he said.

“Oh, going to let me in on you and Slade’s little meetings?” Georgie asked, cheeky grin plastered across her face.

“The ‘plan’ is to summon the demon, Trigon, to wipe out most of the world’s population.”

Georgie looked at him blankly, but Dick could see the gears moving behind her eyes as she processed this new information. Her face slowly scrunched together in a frown.

“So, that’s what it’s going to be like?” she asked.

Dick was speechless for moment. Her tone was confrontational, which hadn’t been what he was expecting in the slightest.

“What do you mean?” he asked warily.

“I thought you had come over to our side, but now you’re telling me this shit? Trying to get me to join your Titans? Piss off, Dick,” Georgie said, twirling around and marching off.

Dick tried meekly to call after her, but it was no use. She was gone, merged back into the crowd of people. Dick banged his head against the wall. At least the issue of having friends in the enemy camp was solved.

***

All the members of the Light were packed into the central hall of the base. They were in a circle around an open area in the middle, in which stood Slade and Aqualad, with Raven in cuffs, as always. Next to them was the altar, moved into the bigger area from its normal place.

Dick had managed to find himself a place near the back, ready to slip out at a moment’s notice. He had tried contacting Kori, but he must have been too far away to make any sort of connection with her. He wasn’t too worried; he was going to see her in a few moments anyway, when the Titans finally arrived.

Slade put his arms out, patting down the air in a silencing gesture. The murmuring throughout the room slowly died down. Even from his place in the back, Dick could see the wide, rather unsettling grin on Slade’s face, as he had decided to go unmasked for this gathering.

“My brave, brave fellowship!” Slade cried, “Today is the day! The greatest day! The day we save the world!”

The room erupted into cheers, the members of the Light giving their raucous support to their leader. Like Georgie, they probably had no idea of what the plan actually entailed. Whether or not they would still support Slade if they knew, Dick had no idea.

“Now watch, as we complete the ritual, and gain the power to cleanse the planet of its filth!”

Slade pulled out the old knife. Next to him, Raven flinched, which made Dick want to vomit. Getting her out of here was his first priority. Slade drew the knife across Raven’s arms, and crimson red blood flowed out onto the altar. The sight caused worried murmurs to spread throughout the crowd. Apparently, Slade hadn’t exposed them to that part of the plan.

The altar exploded into green flames, which started to twirl and twist upwards and upwards towards the roof, in the shape of a vortex. The crowd moved backwards; fear suddenly thick in the air. Dick watched with morbid interest as a shadowy figure started to form inside the fiery vortex. Suddenly, the fire dropped down to the base of the altar, leaving a massive figure where it had once been.

The upper body of Trigon was now visible to everyone. He was massive, almost reaching the roof. His face was twisted into a foul expression, his three sets of eyes squinted in anger. On his head, his long antlers were brushing the ceiling. His grey hair was flowing out down his back, the wind of the flaming vortex causing it to flap about. Bare-chested, his arms and torso were extremely muscular. The crowd moved back slightly, everyone shocked at the sight.

“I HAVE ARRIVED!” Trigon shouted, causing the whole cavern to shake, “WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?”

“She is here, Lord Trigon,” Slade said, pulling Raven forward, “She is yours, as long as you fulfil our deal.”

“AS YOU WISH, MORTAL. THE WORLD WILL BE CLEANSED.”

Dick pulled himself into his thoughts. He needed to contact Kori and the Titans as soon as possible, they needed to get in immediately, before Trigon could be fully summoned by Slade to complete the Light’s plan.

_Kori! Kori? You need to get in here as soon as possible, Trigon is almost summoned!_

There was no response, to Dick’s worry. Down in the centre of the room, the vortex of fire was slowly dropping further and further down revealing more of Trigon. The summoning ritual was almost complete. They were running out of time. When Trigon was fully summoned, they wouldn’t stand a chance against that sort of power.

Trigon was revealed down to the knees, the murmuring of the crowd getting louder. Dick could see some serious doubt on the faces of some of the members. He looked around for Georgie, but he couldn’t see her anywhere. Surely, she would now realise that he was right all along.

The roof exploded. There were screams of terror as chunks of rock and scaffolding fell from the ceiling. Through the new hole in the ceiling, blasts of green energy came flying down like rain in a tropical storm. They were swiftly followed by Kori, her hair flowing and blazing behind her. The rest of Titans were next, Cassie, Karen and Blue Beetle flying in, the rest rappelling down after them.

Dick stepped back out of the crowd, avoiding the chaos, trying to get to the middle to meet up with the Titans. As he tried to force his way past various panicking members of the Light, he saw Aqualad fighting off a double attack from Barbara and Blue Beetle. Kori and Miss Martian were trying to get past Slade to stop the summoning of Trigon.

Dick slid through a couple of soldiers who were being attacked by arrows and energy blasts from Roy and Karen and found himself in the centre. He slid his escrima sticks off his back and knocked out two soldiers who had moved in to engage Kori and Miss Martian.

He jumped in beside Kori and Miss Martian. Kori shot him a quick smile, which made Dick’s heart leap, before focusing her attention back on Slade. Slade was not smiling, his face instead twisted with pure rage.

“So, you have chosen to betray me, Nightwing?” Slade said, pulling out the nanite control, “Now, your friends will pay the ultimate price.”

Slade pressed down on the button. Dick held his breath for a moment, but released it when he noticed that nothing was happening. Confused, Slade tried to press down on the button again, and once more nothing happened.

“Do you truly think we would not attack without a way to stop your nanites, Slade?” Kori said.

Slade snarled, throwing the nanite control at Dick. He caught it easily, but Slade used the slight pause to pull out the sphere, its sides still glowing a light green. He held it up to the looming form of Trigon. The sphere glowed a blinding green, forcing Dick to cover his eyes. When he opened them again, Trigon, Raven and Slade had disappeared.

“Where did they go?” Dick shouted.

“I do not know, but we have to find them,” Kori responded.

Quickly glancing around, all to be seen was Titans fighting different members of the Light. It was chaos, and Dick was growing impatient by the second. They didn’t have time to be searching in a crowded battle arena. If Trigon was fully summoned, there was nothing but catastrophe in Earth’s future.

“Okay, here’s the plan. Kori, you come with me. We’ll go north, there’s a series of tunnels that lead to another kind of open area. Miss Martian, get a couple of other Titans and head south, the training rooms are there, they’re reasonably spacious. Slade might have gone there,” Dick ordered.

Kori stepped over to Dick’s side, while Miss Martian split off into the crowd to find some Titans. Gesturing for Kori to follow, the two of them managed to find their way through a space in the crowd, and broke for the north tunnel system.

Before they could make it, four or so Light soldiers blocked their path, various melee weapons at the ready. A surge of enthusiasm filled Dick’s chest. It had been a while since he’d had the chance to face off against an enemy in a real fight, and he was somewhat relishing the chance.

A light buzz in the back of his mind gave him a warning that Kori was about to speak using their psychic link.

_The standard one-two manoeuvre?_

Dick grinned, twirling his escrima sticks around in a showy manner.

_You know it._

Kori blasted into the air, drawing the attention of the soldiers. Dick leapt forward, planting one of his feet, then pirouetting in between two of the soldiers, slamming the sides of their heads forcefully with the escrima sticks. They crumpled to the ground, unconscious. The other two soldiers turned to face Dick, now seeing him as the main threat. Their distraction was their demise, two starblasts hitting them in the back with force, blasting them past Dick into the wall behind him. Kori floated down.

“Always works on the goons,” Dick said, chuckling, “And you were impressive as always, my dear.”

“Do not be facetious, Nightwing,” Kori said, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek, at which he blushed red.

“I love you,” Dick said.

“I know, but we are meant to be finding Slade and Trigon at the moment,” Kori said.

Dick shook himself out of his lovesick stupor, and waved for Kori to follow. They entered the tunnel system. Dick didn’t know the exact route, but he figured he had a general idea of where it was meant to be. They took a few twists and turns, moving deeper into the tunnel system, into darker territory as the lighting got worse.

“Nightwing,” Kori said, trying to get Dick’s attention.

“Yeah, Starfire?” Dick answered.

“I missed you.”

Dick turned around. Kori was standing under a dim light, but it still gave a light glow around her, especially her face, highlighting every angle of her body. She was even more beautiful than she had been before his departure. However, her expression was sad. He didn’t need a psychic link to know why. She had been worried about him almost non-stop, but hadn’t been able to confront those feelings because she had been busy planning a mission.

“Hey, hey, don’t be sad. We’re together now. That’s what really matters,” Dick said, pulling Kori into a hug. She held him tightly in response, shaking in his arms as she started to sob. Dick rubbed her back, trying to reassure her. He knew exactly how she felt.

After a few moments, Kori broke out of the hug. Her eyes were wet, but the tears had stopped falling. She put her hands on the sides of his face, and pulled into a kiss. It was soft, and emotional, their feelings during their time apart being poured into it. After what felt like a pleasant eternity, they split off, leaving only a slight gap between their mouths.

“I love you, Dick Grayson. More than anything in the universe,” Kori whispered.

“I love you too, Koriand’r,” Dick whispered back.

They stepped back from each other, both their cheeks red. They basked in their excitement for another moments, before Kori started to look around where they had found themselves.

“Nightwing, are we lost?”

Dick grimaced. Giving a cursory look around, he was forced to acknowledge that he didn’t exactly recognise the surroundings.

“I hate to say it, but I think so.”

Kori pinched the bridge of her nose. A very slight aura of annoyance exuded off her. Another time that may have annoyed Dick as well, but he was just so happy to be with her again that getting annoyed seemed ridiculous. Also, he had been the one to get them lost in a base he’d been living in for a week or so.

He was about to suggest a new plan of attack when the lights above them started to flicker wildly, like some power fluctuation was causing it. The flicker moved down a certain tunnel like a trail. There was hope; a path to where Slade should be was suddenly available.

“Saved by the classic power fluctuation, classic Nightwing luck,” Dick joked. Kori smiled and winked, and started to follow the flickering light. Dick did the same.

They were about halfway down the tunnel when a sudden blast of water fired down the tunnel at high speed, hitting the two of them in the chest, knocking them down to the ground. They weren’t down for long, quickly getting to their feet. Dick prepared his escrima sticks, while Kori’s hands started to glow green with energy.

“So, the two lovers fight together again,” said a sneering voice. Out of the darkness stepped Aqualad, his face twisted in a snarl, arms glowing with blue water energy.

“Aqualad. Stand down, do the right thing,” Kori said.

“Something right?” Aqualad growled, “Like you and Wingdings there hooking up behind my back? Save your posturing, Kori.”

Aqualad waved his arm out, sending a blast of water energy out of the tip of his fingers. It struck Kori straight in the face, and she was slammed against the ground. Dick ran over to her, pressing his fingers to her neck. There was still a pulse, but she was unconscious. He looked up at Aqualad, who was smiling viciously. The red mist descended, and Dick roared in fury, jumping forward to attack.

Unfortunately for Dick, his anger unbalanced him. Aqualad easily dodged to the left, then struck him hard in back with water magic. Dick was launched against the wall, his shoulder colliding with stone, exploding in pain. Slumping to the ground, he clasped his shoulder and pushed himself back up. Now holding only one escrima stick, Dick let his anger power him. He moved forward to attack again.

While he had managed to force himself to ignore his pain, it was still slowing him down. Aqualad ducked under his swing then punched him hard in the stomach. Dick keeled over, crumpling to the ground. As he crumpled, Aqualad’s foot swung to meet his face, smashing his nose. He hit the ground on his back, blood flowing from his nose and mouth.

Aqualad’s boot pushed down on Dick’s chest. A pained groan slipped through his lips as the pressure on his chest increased. All he could see was Aqualad’s sneering smile in his increasingly blurry vision

“I expected much better, if I’m honest,” Aqualad said mockingly.

He raised his hand up, arm glowing blue with water magic, ready to strike down on Dick. Before he could, however, a knife suddenly lodged itself in his right shoulder. Aqualad screamed in pain, and stumbled backwards off Dick. Two arms slid under Dick’s shoulders and hauled him up.

“Can’t do anything by yourself, can you, Nightwing?” Georgie said, appearing in Dick’s view.

“Apparently not,” Dick said, spitting some more blood out on the ground in front of him. He managed to force himself up, then with the help of Georgie managed to stand up. She slowly slid away from him, and he managed to maintain his balance.

He stumbled over to Kori’s prone body. She was still breathing normally, to his relief. Georgie wandered over to Aqualad at the same time, and pulled her knife out slowly, making Aqualad scream in pain again. Wiping the blood onto Aqualad’s shirt, she then stepped over to Dick.

“So, you changed your mind about the Light?” Dick asked.

“Yeah, you were right. Don’t rub it in. It’s just – well, I have family out there, I’d rather they didn’t get murdered by an evil demon lord, or whatever the hell that was,” Georgie said.

Kori started to stir slightly, regaining Dick’s attention. Georgie stood closer as well, leaning over the two of them, casting a shadow.

“This is your girl, then? Y’know, she’s pretty. I don’t blame you for – hurk.”

Dick glanced up, to see why Georgie had suddenly stopped talking. Right in the middle of her chest was a glowing spike of water magic, clean through from behind. It swiftly slid back out, leaving a bloody hole in its place. Georgie collapsed, but Dick leapt forward and caught her before she could hit the ground. In his arms, she looked up at him, holding a weak hand to his cheek.

“Save the world, Nightwing,” she said, her voice weak.

Dick nodded, unable to bring himself to say anything. Georgie gave him a smile, before her head rolled back, eyes glassy and empty. She was gone. Pressing his eyes closed to prevent the tears from flowing, he pulled Georgie’s eyelids down, closing them. He hadn’t known Georgie all that long, but she had a good heart, plus she had saved his life. He placed her gently on the ground.

He looked up, to see Aqualad up again, a cruel look on his face, his arm still glowing. Blinking any tears away, Dick picked up the one escrima stick near him and held it in a defensive position. Aqualad sneered, and moved his arms around, then spraying them forward, launching water at Dick. Normally he could have dodged it, but he was slowed with injury and grief, the water striking him hard, knocking him down hard to the ground yet again.

“Truly pathetic, like your dead little traitor friend. Now the story of Nightwing ends for good,” Aqualad said, stepping over towards Dick.

“Hey Aqualad, guess what!” came a shout from behind him. Aqualad spun around and was greeted with a Bo staff strike hard to his face.

“Spoiler alert!” Steph shouted as Aqualad fell to the ground unconscious.

“Spoiler…?” Dick asked, a surge of relief filling his chest despite the situation.

“In the flesh, Nightwing!” Steph said loudly.

“You have a catchphrase now?”

“I’ve been working on it while you were gone! Do you like it?” Steph asked, her eyes clearly searching for approval.

“Yeah, I like it,” Dick said softly, with a small smile. He could see the wide smile of Steph in her eyes, despite the mask.

Dick stepped over to Aqualad, pulling some restraints out from his utility belt, and fastening them around Aqualad’s hands tightly. Aqualad remained unconscious. Once that was done, Kori started to stir. Dick and Steph rushed to her side, and helped her up. Blinking a few times, Kori then seemed to zone in to the world around her. Before anyone could say anything, she pulled Dick into a tight hug.

“I am glad you are okay,” Kori whispered into Dick’s ear.

“I’m not,” Dick replied.

Breaking out of the hug with Kori, Dick turned around, walking back to Georgie’s body. Steph and Kori joined him; Their mood was immediately sombre.

“Was she your friend?” Steph asked softly.

Dick nodded, trying to stop the tears that had formed in the corner of his eyes. Too many good people had died in Dick’s company. Steph pulled her cape off, leaving her hoodless as well. She draped it across Georgie’s body, covering her completely. Kori put her arm around Dick and rubbed his back, trying to comfort him; Dick leant into her shoulder. Her presence was helping him, proving to him that not everything was lost.

Their moment of mourning was interrupted by a large booming sound, with the entire tunnel system shaking wildly. Dick had to use Kori as a crutch, who was floating slightly off the ground to avoid having to keep her balance. It soon stopped, allowing Dick to let go of Kori.

“Seems like we might be running out of time, guys,” Steph said.

“Spoiler is right. We must move quickly if we are going to stop Slade from summoning Trigon completely,” Kori said.

Dick glanced at Georgie’s covered body, making a silent promise that he would come back and give her a real funeral. He then picked up his two escrima sticks, sliding them onto his back, setting them in place.

“Okay, it’s up to us now. Spoiler, Starfire, are you both ready?” Dick asked. They both gave him a nod. He gestured for them to follow him, and they started to run down the hallway in the direction of the booming sound.

_Watch out, Slade. We’re coming for you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! But here we are, the final battle has begun. Can Dick and the Titans prevail?
> 
> Comments and criticism are welcome and appreciated.  
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> P.S. Poor Georgie :(


	13. Save the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's up to the Titans to save the world.

The shaking got worse the further down the hallway they got. Dick was starting to have trouble keeping his balance. However, he managed to keep it long enough to reach the end of the hall, Kori and Steph hot on his heels.

The end of the hallway had three different hallways leading straight to a flat wall with a small door set into it. From inside, Dick could hear what sounded like Trigon shouting, and the entire space was now shaking with such intensity that he had to brace himself against a wall. Kori had given up on connecting with the ground at all, floating several centimetres off the ground. Steph was following Dick’s example, braced against the opposite wall.

As suddenly as it had started, the shaking stopped completely, as did the shouting from inside. Instead there was an awful silence, that filled Dick with nothing but dread. Nothing good could have happened.

“Oh, thank god I caught up with you,” said a woman’s voice that Dick recognised.

Dick turned, and there was Barbara, suited up as Batgirl, breathing heavily as though she had sprinted here. He was glad to see her, glad that she was alive and well, though her suit had various cuts and tears in it.

“Batgirl! We could use your help. We’re about to go into the belly of the beast,” Dick said.

“Well, that’s why I’m here. What’s the plan?” Barbara said, looking to Dick.

Kori and Steph followed suit, also looking to Dick. He wasn’t surprised. Not wanting to seem arrogant, he didn’t say anything, but he knew that he was seen as a leader, one to make a plan and lead people into it. It had always been one of his strengths.

“We need to get in to assess the situation before we can hope to come up with any sort of plan,” Dick said.

A round of silent nods was his reply. He pressed himself against the wall beside the door, and used one of his escrima sticks to slowly pry the door open. When there was enough room to slid through, he did, the others following one by one behind him.

It was a wide-open room, as was expected. Before Dick could remotely note anything else, his attention was drawn to the centre of the room, where Trigon was standing high. At his feet was the small sphere, with only a little vortex of green fire left. The summoning was almost complete.

On a ledge overlooking Trigon, stood Slade, shouting something to a small group of soldiers grouped around him. On the other side, Raven was tied up on something that looked like a medieval rack. Dark energy was writhing off her, pouring into the back of Trigon. Dick was no expert, but it looked like it was powering Trigon up.

“Okay, I’ve got the plan,” Dick said, turning to the others. They all leant in, faces etched with determination. Kori gave him a small smile of encouragement, which gave Dick even more confidence in his plan.

“Starfire, Batgirl, you’re both going to come with me. We’ll be running interference, drawing their attacks.”

Barbara gave a nod, face grim but accepting. Kori was less morbid, the corners of her mouth upturned in a somewhat sardonic grin.

“While that’s happening, Spoiler, you’ll be doing the important job. I think Raven is critically important to both summoning Trigon and sending the bastard back to hell. While the Light is distracted, you’re going to free her.”

Steph nodded, but there was a clear apprehension in her eyes. Her hands were gripped tightly around her Bo staff, and they were shaking slightly. Dick looked at Kori and Barbara, and they both understood immediately, stepping away, leaving Dick and Steph alone.

Steph’s head was lowered, refusing to make any sort of eye contact with Dick. He put a hand on her shoulder, hoping that it was a reassuring gesture. She still refused to look up. Dick gave a half-smile; she was still as stubborn as ever.

“Come on, Steph, look at me,” Dick said, hoping the use of her real name would get her attention.

It did, Steph looking up, her eyes wide with surprise. She moved to look down again, but Dick put a hand under her chin, keeping the eye contact.

“It’s okay to be scared,” Dick said, prompting a look of apprehension from Steph, “contrary to what you’re often led to believe, courage is actually about being scared, but doing what you have to do anyway.

“If I’m honest, I’m currently terrified. We’re about to try and take down a demon lord, and I don’t even have any powers. But I know that if we don’t do this, no one else will, and so do Kori and Barbara. And I also know that you are completely capable of rescuing Raven, without a doubt.”

He smiled at her, hopefully reassuringly. It took a moment, but Steph released a deep breath, and her eyes narrowed with determination.

“I’ve got this,” she said.

Dick pat her on the back, then stepped back.

“Attagirl! Let’s go save the world!”

“Absolutely! Also, the red Nightwing suit is not a good look, you better change it when this is over,” Steph said, with a cheeky grin on her face.

Dick poked his tongue out at her, rather childishly. She shook her head and then ran off in the direction of Raven, Bo staff extended behind her. Confident that she would be okay, Dick returned to where Barbara and Kori were waiting.

“Is everything alright with Spoiler?” Kori asked.

“It is now. Let’s get going,” Dick replied.

The trio ran towards Slade’s ledge. Dick was holding his escrima sticks, Kori’s hands were glowing with green starblast energy, and Barbara had batarangs at the ready in each hand. They reached the edge of the lower level, just below the ledge. To their right was a staircase, presumably leading up to the ledge.

Before they could start moving up the stairs, a shout from above drew their attention. Slade had noticed them. A large group of the soldiers disappeared from sight, likely going down the stairs to attack them. Dick grinned, twirling his escrima sticks, and started to run up the staircase, Barbara and Kori hot on his heels.

The first soldier reached them at what Dick estimated to be a quarter of the way up the staircase. Dick ducked under the soldier’s attempted punch, then stabbed him hard in the stomach with his escrima sticks. As the soldier keeled over, Kori blasted him against the wall with a starblast, knocking him out. They stepped over his prone form, continuing up the staircase.

Barbara was the first to spot the next two soldiers, throwing two batarangs at them. One was hit in the head, knocking them out, but the other turned so the batarang only deflected of their shoulder. They then pulled two knives from their belt, attacking Dick, who was the closest. Dick blocked two attempted stabs, then suddenly ducked, allowing Barbara to swing a kick over him into the soldier’s face. The soldier stumbled back, and Dick swung his escrima sticks up with force, connecting hard with the soldier’s chin, knocking them out.

As they continued up the staircase, another two soldiers tried to stop them. Dick slammed one against the wall with a shoulder charge, whilst Kori flew forward to punch the other. Her fist connected hard enough to shatter the soldier’s metal helmet, crumpling them against the stairs.

The rest of the stairs were clear of enemies, Slade obviously wrongly hoping that the ones he had sent were enough to finish them off. Unencumbered by soldiers, the trio reached the top quickly, bursting out onto the ledge, ready for a fight. Before they could even so much as look at Slade, a beam of flaming red energy launched at them. Dick pulled Kori and Barbara to the right in a swift dodge, the area where they had been standing exploding in a cloud of flame and stone.

Dick was quick to his feet again, quickly taking in his surroundings before they could be attacked again. Slade was standing to his left, surrounded by four heavily armoured soldiers, his own swords drawn. Behind him, far more worryingly, was Trigon, his six eyes glowing red, his hideous face curled in an expression of pure rage.

“You’re too late, Nightwing,” Slade said, a victorious smile framing his face, “Trigon has been summoned. The world is now the Light’s to control!”

Dick glanced down at Trigon’s feet. Sure enough, the vortex of green fire had completely disappeared. Trigon’s form entirely corporeal in this world. Dick’s heart fell. Surely this couldn’t be it; there had to be a way to stop Trigon even now. The sacrifices that had been made to get them to this point couldn’t be vain.

“There is always a way, Slade,” Kori said, standing to Dick’s side, “Even now, we will stop you!”

Dick’s soul was refilled with burning determination. Kori was right. There was always a way. They were Titans, and even at the very end, Titans would never lose hope. Even if they were destined to fail here, to die as the world was cleansed, they would go down fighting. Dick held his escrima sticks in an offensive stance. Beside him, Barbara stood up, miniature bombs in her hands, and on the other side stood Kori, back straight, starblasts at the ready.

Slade raised one of his swords, pointing it at the trio. The four soldiers around him lumbered forward, weighed down by their heavy armour. Trigon launched another beam of energy at them, but they all jumped forward to dodge, getting close to the soldiers to avoid Trigon’s attacks.

Barbara threw three explosives at the soldier closest to Dick. It failed penetrate their armour, but it caused them to stumble backwards. Dick pressed the advantage, using his momentum to jump up at the soldier, slamming his escrima sticks down on the head of the soldier, using that momentum to land behind the soldier. He then spun around as the soldier was falling to swing the escrima sticks upwards again. The armour was dented, and the soldier crumpled, unconscious.

The other three soldiers started to surround Dick, who was now in their midst. One of them pulled a small pistol out, and started firing. Fortunately, it was an energy pistol, the blasts coming slower than a bullet would, allowing Dick to twist and dodge. The soldier’s gun then jammed, causing enough of a pause that Kori was able to fly in and pick them up by the shoulders, hauling them into the air. She then tossed them up, firing two starblasts into them, sending them flying out of sight.

Dick then moved to the next soldier closest to him. This soldier was wielding something resembling a medieval war hammer. The soldier swung it down at Dick. He pirouetted to the left, avoiding the slow attack, countering with two swift blows to the back of their head with his escrima sticks. Shrugging the attack off, the soldier turned around with another swing of the war hammer. Dick jumped back to avoid it, but the soldier pressed their advantage, moving with surprising speed considering their weighty armour. Another swing of the war hammer forced Dick to deflect with his escrima sticks, and use the momentum slide backwards.

The other soldier pulled an energy rifle off their back and started firing shots at Dick. Barbara fired off some more batarangs, but they didn’t even make a dent in the heavy armour. Dick rolled under both an energy shot and a war hammer swing, getting a glancing blow against the soldier with the war hammer’s side. It did little, but the soldier was forced to turn again. Dick was doing his best to take advantage of the slow turn.

Unfortunately for him, he was so focused on the soldier with the war hammer, that he forgot about the other one. An energy blast glanced off his shoulder, knocking him the ground. Searing pain burst forth from his shoulder, as if it was on fire. The smell of his singed suit filled his nostrils, causing him to gag.

With his senses dulled with pain, he was vaguely aware of the war hammer being raised above him. Before the hammer could connect, there was an angry scream. It snapped Dick back into focus and he rolled out of the way. The hammer connected with the ground where he had been a split second later.

Kori flew in with speed, launching a punch at the soldier with the war hammer. She connected even harder than she had with the soldier on the staircase, the soldier’s armour crumpling like paper at the point of impact. The armour took enough of the impact that the soldier only stumbled, but Kori got a hold of their war hammer. She swung it with force into the soldier’s face, shattering the war hammer’s shaft and launching the soldier into the back wall, unconscious.

The soldier with the rifle tried to take aim at Kori, but Barbara was quick enough to throw a few explosives at them, sending them stumbling backwards. She then hit them with a flying kick, sending them tumbling off the edge to the ground below.

The three of them grouped together again, facing Slade and Trigon. Slade snarled, but sheathed his swords. Behind him, Trigon roared, firing forth another six beams. Dick and Kori dived one way, while Barbara dived the other. Where they had been standing exploded with fire.

Trigon then swung a massive hand down on them. Kori fired a beam of green energy upwards, which held the hand back long enough for both of them to slide away before the hand hit the ground.

They weren’t able to stop for long, Trigon firing off another beam of energy at them. They managed to dodge again, but Dick could feel the intense heat on his back. Before they even landed in their new spot, another beam launched at them. It didn’t connect directly, but the ground exploded in front of them, smashing them against the ground hard.

They were slumped on the ground. Dick tried to push himself up, but he couldn’t do it. He was battered and bruised, and hitting the ground after the explosion had made it all catch up with him. Kori looked in equally bad condition, dust and grime covering her face.

The air around them started to increase in heat. Dick looked up and was greeted with six sets of glowing red eyes. They had to move, or Trigon was surely going to incinerate them, but Dick didn’t have the strength. He looked to Kori, who had a sad smile on her face. She cradled a hand on the side of his face.

“I did not think this would be how it ended, my love,” Kori said, tears dripping from her eyes then drying up immediately with the heat. Dick placed his own hand on her cheek, mimicking her gesture.

“I’m glad that you’re with me, at the end,” Dick said, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Dick pulled Kori closer, pressing her lips against his own. If this was to be their last moment, he was going to make it count. Although dry with the heat, the kiss was electrifying, their lips connected and held by pure love. They pulled even closer as the heat increased, ready for the final moment as the beam connected.

“ _Metrionus Maxima!_ ”

The final moment never came. Dick split apart from Kori and looked where the shout had come from. Raven was standing triumphant, a shield of white emanating from her hands, eyes glowing the brightest white Dick had ever seen. By her side was Steph, who was holding up a limping Barbara.

Dick looked back at Trigon and Slade. The beam of energy was still firing, but it was smashing harmlessly against Raven’s shield. Trigon realised nothing was happening, and stopped firing. When he saw why, his face twisted in an expression of shock.

“DAUGHTER? YOU WOULD BETRAY ME?” he said, voice tinged with confusion.

“I’ve never been your daughter,” Raven said coldly, firing two blasts of white energy at Trigon. They collided with his chest, and he screamed in pain, stumbling backwards. Enraged, he returned fire with all six energy beams. Before they connected, Raven waved her hands in a circular motion, causing a white platform to form beneath them. It shot up into the air, well out of the range of Trigon’s attack.

In the air, Raven placed a hand on Dick and Kori’s shoulders. Her hand glowed white, and Dick suddenly felt revitalised, his wounds no longer noticeable. He felt in the best possible condition. A quick look at Kori, and he could see that she felt the same, her hands glowing green with energy. Raven did the same for Barbara, and she could stand again, without any help from Steph.

“Thanks for the save,” Dick said, patting Raven’s shoulder, prompting a smile.

“What, nothing for old Spoiler, who freed Raven?” Steph said petulantly.

“You have done well, Spoiler, thank you,” Kori said, obliging her.

A roar forced them to look down. Trigon had spotted them. He launched another attack of energy from his eyes, forcing Raven to divert the platform to the left to dodge. She then caused the platform to swing low past Trigon’s eyes, between his legs, and hid under a stone ledge.

“I’m sorry about my so-called father,” Raven said.

“It’s just another day in the life of the Titans,” Dick said, grinning slightly, “But what’s with the white energy? Last time I checked your magic was all shadowy and dark?”

“I’m not sure. Spoiler freed me from my imprisonment, and I saw you about to be incinerated. Next thing I know, I’m casting a shield spell and blocking my father’s attack. I just… well, I feel in control of myself, for the first time.”

“Do you think these improved powers can help stop Trigon?” Kori asked.

“Without a doubt,” Raven said, her expression determined, white energy crackling from her fingertips.

“So Raven is going to stop Trigon, but how? What’s the plan?” Barbara asked.

Everyone looked to Dick. He shook his head, somewhat resigned. He wasn’t mad. Plans were often his best work. He crouched down, with the others following suit.

“Similar plan to the first one. Batgirl, Spoiler, and Kori, you’re with me. We need to make sure Slade doesn’t escape to try this plan again. Raven, I think we know your job. Beat the crap out of your grumpy dad. Understood?”

Everyone nodded, each set of eyes full of determination and fight. Dick put his hand in the middle of the group. The rest did the same.

“Titans, go!” Dick shouted, and Raven sent the platform flying back up.

They reached Trigon’s eyeline, and he roared, firing off another blast of energy at them. Raven cast another shield, this one made of white energy. The beams of energy deflected off it. She floated the ledge down to the ledge, letting Dick and the others off. She then dissipated the platform and flew into the sky to confront Trigon.

Slade was waiting for them on the ledge, swords drawn. Dick’s escrima sticks were on the ground next to a small crater, and Dick grabbed them, holding them at the ready. Kori’s hands were almost bursting with green energy. Steph had her Bo staff at the ready, and Barbara had several batarangs ready to throw.

Above them, Trigon and Raven were battling it out, causing the entire cavern to shake and boom. Raven was swooping through the air, firing off blasts of white energy at Trigon, while he tried to grab her with his massive hands, occasionally firing off energy blasts of his own.

Back on the ledge, Slade twirled his swords aggressively. His face was twisted in a foul grimace. His carefully laid plans were slowly crumbling around him, so Dick couldn’t blame him, but it was finally going to come to end. This was where Slade Wilson would be captured.

“It would be much easier if you surrendered, Slade,” Kori ordered.

“I will never surrender to scum like you,” Slade said.

He leapt forward, slicing his swords at Steph. She managed to block his attack with her Bo staff, but she was unbalanced by the attack. Slade moved to press his found advantage, but was struck in the back by some batarangs. Steph slid out of his range as Barbara fired off some more batarangs. Slade deflected them easily with his swords.

Now without any weapons, Barbara was vulnerable. Fortunately, she was fast, ducking and twisting to avoid Slade’s sword strikes. Dick rushed in, attempting to shoulder charge Slade. He saw it coming, ducking down, rolling Dick over his back. The momentum kept Dick going and he hit the wall ahead of him hard.

Before Slade could make any other moves, Kori and Steph attacked. Steph spun her Bo staff around, striking forward with speed. Slade blocked with ease, hooking his swords around her Bo staff, pulling forward and disarming her. Kori quickly fired off some starblasts, preventing Slade from finishing Steph off.

He managed to avoid Kori’s starblasts and jumped forward, swords slicing in opposite directions. Both swords clipped Kori’s arms and she screamed with pain, stumbling backwards. Slade tried to bring the swords forward into a stab, but he was struck in the back by Steph, who had regained her Bo staff.

Dick chucked one of his escrima sticks to Barbara, giving her a weapon, then ran forward to engage Slade before he could attack Steph. Slade swung both his blades at Dick. He blocked one, with Barbara jumping in and blocking the other. Steph stabbed from behind with her Bo staff. Slade pirouetted forward with the impact, kicking out at Steph, knocking her back. He then sliced at Dick and Barbara. Dick managed to block, but his sword sliced deep into Barbara’s side, and she collapsed with a scream of pain.

Dick sidestepped out of the way of another sword strike, grabbing his other escrima stick from Barbara’s prone form. He jumped in for an attack of his own, but Slade was equal to it, blocking every attack with ease. Slade pirouetted around Dick, and slashed up his back. Ghastly pain exploded from his back and he collapsed forward on the ground.

Slade kicked Dick in the chest, rolling him over with his foot. Dick groaned, the ground cold and hard, exacerbating the pain from the cuts in his back. Slade then stamped a boot down on Dick’s chest, eliciting a shout of pain from him.

“You should know that you are no match for me, Nightwing. Your story is at an end!” Slade said, raising his left sword to stab down.

“Do not dare, Slade!” Kori shouted, her eyes glowing green, her expression one of fury.

“It’s too late, Starfire. You can’t save your little boyfriend now!”

Slade started to stab down, but two beams of green energy fired out of Kori’s eyes, bisecting Slade’s sword arm. The sword and his forearm flopped to the ground beside Dick harmlessly, and Slade screamed in pain, holding the stump where his elbow used to be. Kori then swooped in and punched Slade with speed, knocking him against the wall.

“Dick, are you alright?” Kori asked, helping him up.

“Yeah, the pain’s starting to dull now. I didn’t know you could fire energy out of your eyes,” Dick said, stretching his back out, ignoring the way the sword cuts in his back exploded in pain.

“Neither did I,” Kori said sheepishly.

“Whatever works, I guess. Let’s go see how Batgirl and Spoiler are.”

The two of them went over to where Steph and Barbara were collapsed on the ground. Barbara was still conscious, curled in a ball, groaning over the bleeding gash in her side. Steph was unconscious, but she appeared to have no serious injuries.

Kori’s hand filled with energy and she started to use the heat to cauterise Barbara’s wound. She moaned with the pain, but Kori continued, sealing the wound off. The bleeding stopped, to Dick’s relief, meaning Barbara was in no threat of bleeding out.

There was an explosion above them. Dick watched as Trigon fell backwards against the cavern wall behind him, Raven blasting more white energy at him. Trigon roared, but failed to get back up. Raven flew down to where they were.

“Trigon’s down. We can send him back where he came from now,” Raven said.

“What do you need us to do?” Kori asked.

“Nothing. I can open a portal myself. However, I think it’s going to destabilise this entire cave system, so you will probably want to get all the Titans out of here.”

Dick and Kori nodded. Raven flew back into the air, and started to wave her arms around, energy floating around her, following the direction of her arm movements.

“Azarath Metrion Zinthos!” Raven shouted, and a massive portal opened up behind Trigon. It was pulling things in with force, like a vacuum. Trigon awakened, and desperately tried to step forward to escape the pull of the portal.

“DAUGHTER! HELP ME!” Trigon shouted.

“Goodbye, father. I hope I never see you again!” Raven said.

She fired off a blast of white energy, unbalancing Trigon, who stumbled backwards into the portal with a scream of rage. He was sucked in entirely, and Raven swiftly closed the portal behind him.

However, she had been right. The pull of the portal had destabilised the entire cavern, and it was starting to collapse around them. Kori picked up Barbara and Steph, one in each arm. Raven swooped down to where they were.

“Let us get out of here,” Kori said, “Dick, could you tell the Titans to evacuate?”

Dick obliged, tapping an evacuation message using Kori’s Titan communicator. They started to flee, as chunks of stone fell from the ceiling. They had got down the stairs when Dick saw Slade running away down a side passageway. Kori noticed him looking.

“Dick, forget Slade! We have to get out of here!” Kori shouted over the noise of crashing rocks.

“I’m sorry, Kori, I can’t let him escape. Not again. I’ll meet up with you at the exit. Go!” Dick said, running down after Slade.

Kori had obviously listened to him, because she wasn’t around him as he ran. He sped around a corner and saw Slade standing in front of a pile of stone that must have blocked his path.

“Slade! You’re not escaping this time!” Dick shouted.

Slade turned around, holding what remained of his left arm. Gone was any sense of bravado or anger on his face; there was simply fear, as though he had finally realised the situation in which he had found himself.

“You fool, Nightwing! There’s no escape. You should’ve gone with your friends. Now you’re going to die here with me.”

Slade pulled out his one sword left, pointing it at Dick, challenging him. Dick slid the escrima sticks off his back and jumped forward. Slade blocked the attack and countered with a swing of his sword. Slade’s attack range was limited by the fact he only had one arm. Dick blocked the swing with one escrima stick, and struck Slade in the head with the other. Slade stumbled back.

An awful sound of cracking grabbed their attention. Dick looked up, and saw massive cracks appearing in the stone above them. Slade saw it to, and tried to rush at Dick with his sword. Dick blocked the panicked attack, and kicked Slade in the chest. Slade stumbled back as the ceiling finally collapsed, a massive piece of stone crushing him immediately.

Dick tried to run as the ceiling collapsed around him. He managed to keep ahead of the falling stone, reaching the end of the passageway. Quickly turning out, he started to run down the path that Kori had taken.

Unfortunately for him, the ceiling in this passageway had started to collapse as well. A chunk of rock fell before Dick could stop his momentum, colliding with his head. Dick fell to the ground as more stone fell around him. He tried to get up, but another stone hit him in the head, and everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Titans have won! Trigon and Slade are gone! But is Dick going to be okay? Find out in the next chapter, which will be the FINAL ONE for this story. It should come some time next week.
> 
> Comments and criticism are welcome and appreciated.  
> Thanks for reading!


	14. Peaceful Moments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Dick Grayson escape his situation?

Darkness. An absence of light. That was all Dick could see as he stirred from his unconsciousness. His head was pounding with excruciating pain, flowing from the exact spot that the rock had hit him on the head. He tried to move his hands to his forehead to check for bleeding, but found they were stuck, trapped under heavy rock.

He tried shifting any other body parts but he couldn’t, for like his hands rock was pinning them down. He was able to lean his head forward, however, and his head didn’t immediately hit a rock. _Okay, so I’ve got a bit of room_.

He took a deep breath, tasting the air on his tongue. It didn’t tell him much, but it told him enough. He estimated he had twenty minutes before his oxygen ran out and he died. Not a great length of time to try and escape when he was completely pinned, but he’d survived worse. The main problem was that if he struggled too much, he’d use up the limited oxygen in his little space.

_Twenty._

Dick tried to shift his body around, but no matter which way he attempted to twist, nothing would budge. The pressure from the rocks pinning him was started to cause pains in his arms and legs. He couldn’t find his escrima sticks with his limited movement, to his displeasure. He had been hoping that he would be able to use it as leverage to push some of the rocks away.

_Fifteen._

Five minutes had passed with no progress. The pain had been so constant that it no longer registered in Dick’s mind. He tried turning his body from side to side to slide a body part out from underneath the stone, but again nothing happened. Every time he took a breath the air tasted staler, and he was having to take deeper breaths. He was running out of time.

_Ten._

Another five minutes of no progress. Dick had never been one to give up, but things were starting to look hopeless. He was trapped and running out of air, and nothing was working in trying to get out of the situation. Dick wasted some of his breath to sigh into the empty darkness. Things had started to look up only a week ago, and now he was likely going to die, pinned in rubble. There were so many things he had wanted to do, that he was now unlikely to ever get to do. He was never going to see Kori again, see her beauty with his own eyes. There would be no more sparring with Steph, or bantering with Barbara.

_Eight._

He was never even going to get to say goodbye. His last words to Kori had been that he was going to meet her at the exit. He didn’t even know if they had escaped the caves before they collapsed. He hoped they had, then at least some good would have come from this whole ordeal. The Titans would live on; they were strong, they were talented. They would grow and be the great force for good the Titans should be.

_Six._

Six minutes left by his count, and it was looking like it was over. The air was slowly running out, he was trapped, and death seemed to be around the corner. He closed his eyes and rested his head against the rock. He knew this would hurt the Titans, but they would recover. However, it would probably hurt his adopted family even more. Bruce and Alfred would be distraught, he could tell already. He didn’t speak much with Jason anymore, but he thought they were on reasonably good terms, so his death would likely hurt him as well. Tim was someone he barely knew, but now he would never have the chance. He wished so desperately that it didn’t have to end this way.

_Three._

He reached out into his psychic link with Kori. He had no idea if it would work or not, whether she was alive out there or too far away, but he had to make sure his last words were to her.

_Kori, I don’t know if you’ll ever hear this. I don’t even know if you’re still alive out there. But we were good! We were exceptional. It is my greatest regret that I wasted so much time that we could’ve spent together by being a stubborn idiot. Though some might say it is one of most lovable traits!_

_Two._

_Please tell Steph that she has done nothing except make me proud, and that she will continue to grow into a fine young woman if she keeps on her current path. Tell Barbara that I’m sorry, and I know that she’s going to be okay, in the grand scheme of things. If you happen to see Batman… well, just tell him that he has changed my life in every way, and that he did the best he could._

_One._

_As for you, my love, I want you to know that you are the best part of life in every way. I’m running out of oxygen, and I’m trapped under piles of stone, but know that all my thoughts will be of you as I go. I love you, Kori, now and forever…_

Dick took one last deep breath and his lungs barely filled with air. He gasped, trying to bring in more air, but there was none left. He felt himself slowly fading away as he couldn’t get oxygen to his brain. His head slumped backwards, but he felt a sudden sense of calm, accepting of what was about to happen.

Suddenly, there was a loud crashing around Dick, and a sudden burst of bright light that Dick could see through closed eyes. He breathed in, and his lungs were filled with fresh air. He opened his eyes to bright daylight, shining behind a shadowy figure floating in the air above him.

His eyes focused and he saw a blue jumpsuit with a distinctive red logo emblazoned on its chest. He looked further up and saw a mess of black hair and an even more distinctive smile.

“Superman?” Dick croaked.

“Hello, Nightwing. Seems you’ve got yourself in a spot of bother here,” Superman said cheerfully.

Dick just coughed, the sudden rush of fresh air too much for his throat. Superman floated down lightly and pushed the last few rocks off him. The removal of pressure caused a massive flood of pain to rush into the parts of Dick’s body that had been pinned, and he screamed out.

“Nightwing!” shouted a familiar voice, “Are you okay?”

Beside Superman, Kori flew down, tucking her arms under Dick’s body and lifting him out of the pile of rocks. Dick didn’t answer her question, instead nuzzling his head into her shoulder, bathing in the warmth coming off her body. She seemed to understand, kissing the top of his head.

They flew over the remaining rubble and landed. Kori gently angled Dick down, allowing him to place his feet gently on the ground. His legs were somewhat dead after being trapped under the rocks, so he supported himself against Kori, who was standing strong.

Dick took the moment to look around. The entire cave system had collapsed in, a massive pile of rubble and stone in its place. Scattered around, looking at the rubble, were the Titans and, to Dick’s surprise, several members of the Justice League. Superman seemed to notice Dick’s surprise.

“The Watchtower picked up massive energy signals, which I assume was Trigon. By the time we got here, the entire cave system had collapsed already. We’ve been helping with the clean up effort. Though, you were one of the only ones still trapped under the rocks.”

“How did you find me?” Dick asked.

“The psychic link,” Kori said, smiling, “Your last words came through and it gave us an idea of where to find you.”

“I can always count on you,” Dick said, pressing a kiss to Kori’s lips. She wrapped her arms around his torso and pulled him closer, returning the kiss forcefully. She hadn’t said anything about it, but Dick knew just from how desperately she was pulling him in that she had been worried sick about him.

In the corner of his eye, he could see Superman chuckle slightly and walk away. He focused back on the love of his life in front of him, holding her tight as their lips remained locked together. He was falling into the moment when there was a sudden shout.

“NIGHTWING!” shouted a girl’s voice.

Dick parted from Kori in time to see a blur of purple and blonde barrel into him. It connected with such force that he stumbled backwards, but was stopped from falling over by arms wrapping tight around him. He grinned, and returned the hug.

“You could’ve given me a Spoiler Alert before you came barrelling into me,” he joked.

“Shut up, I thought you were dead,” Steph said, glaring at him.

Steph let go of him when Kori came closer. Dick looked over her as she stepped back. Her eyes were wet with tears, though Dick suspected she would never admit it. Under her face mask, which was starting to slip loose, he could tell she was beaming.

He heard more footsteps. Looking behind Steph, he saw Barbara in her Batgirl uniform walking up to them. Beside her, cloaked in his midnight black cape, was Batman himself. Barbara sped up slightly and pulled Dick into another hug.

“I’m glad you’re alright,” Barbara said, stepping back.

“You have done excellent work here, Nightwing,” Batman said.

“That’s all?” Dick asked, raising an eyebrow.

Batman’s lips thinned. He paused for a moment, clearly thinking over his answer. Awkwardly reaching his arm out, he patted Dick on the shoulder.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Batman said stiffly, before walking away from the group.

Dick looked blankly between his friends. Barbara, who was used to Batman’s weird displays of affection and gratitude, had a smirk plastered on her face. The other two, who had not spent nearly as much time around Batman just looked generally confused.

“Don’t worry. From Batman, that’s basically hugs and tears,” Dick said, grinning.

They walked over to re-join the main group of heroes. It was a mix of Titans and Justice League, with members of the Light in restraints scattered about in groups. As they joined the group, Aquaman walked past them, going towards the sea. He was shoving along Aqualad, who was locked in various restraints. Aquaman stopped before continuing.

“Do not worry, Titans. Aqualad will face Atlantean justice,” He said firmly.

Dick nodded, and Aquaman walked away, shoving Aqualad in the back as he moved towards the ocean. They took a few steps into the water, then Aquaman dove under, dragging Aqualad with him.

Dick returned his attention to the group of heroes. In one group were Cassie, Raven and Beast Boy. Cassie was admiring Raven’s new white energy powers, while Beast Boy just looked at Raven, a doting expression plastered on his face.

Elsewhere, Karen was wrapping a bleeding wound on Roy’s arm in a bandage, glaring holes into the side of his head as he was somewhat distracted by Wonder Woman, who was standing nearby, discussing something technical with Blue Beetle, who had a holographic display up. Karen pulled tightly on one of the bandages, causing Roy to yelp in pain. He looked back at her apologetically, pressing a kiss to her lips. She maintained the glare, but a small smile crossed her lips.

Miss Martian was with some of the younger Titans, entertaining them by changing the way her hair looked using her shape-shifting powers. Dick had a little chuckle to himself and shared an amused look with Kori. He could remember having to do the same thing when he was leader of the Titans. It was a surprisingly important part of the job.

There was the roar of jet engines. Dick looked up and saw a large silver transport ship slowly lowering itself to the ground. It landed with a loud thud, sending a light tremor through the ground. The back opened with a hiss of steam, the ramp lowering slowly to the ground. Out the back came Cyborg, wearing a sleeveless leather jacket and combat pants.

The Justice League started to load captured members of the Light on board. None of the Light attempted to struggle. They all looked defeated. Dick suspected quite a few of them hadn’t been on board with the whole ‘summoning a demon to destroy the planet’ plan. Cyborg noticed Dick and Kori and waved, walking over to them.

“Hey Nightwing! Starfire finally managed to get you out of the gloomy hellhole that is Gotham City,” Cyborg said with enthusiasm, before noticing Barbara, “Uh, no offence.”

“None taken,” Barbara said. She turned to Dick. “I’ll catch you later. Come on, Spoiler.”

Barbara led Steph away, who kept looking back like she wanted to remain part of the conversation. Dick couldn’t help but chuckle. He did want to catch up with Vic without her around, but she was still good fun. Fortunately, Steph seemed to forget her petulance as soon as Barbara led her to Cassie.

“So, Vic, it’s been a while. How’s being one of the big Justice League guys treating you?” Dick asked.

“Well enough. Only Batman seems to have any idea how most of the tech works up in the Watchtower. I’m basically a glorified IT guy at this point,” Vic said, chuckling.

The Justice League transport ship made a loud screech as its engines started up again. They looked over to see members of the Justice League waving Vic over. It was time for them to go. Vic frowned, before patting both Dick and Kori on the shoulders.

“Duty calls. Keep in touch you two. I’ll tell Wally you said hi.”

“See you round, Vic, I hope we can catch properly sometime,” Dick said, Kori waving goodbye beside him.

Vic gave a mock salute and walked off. They watched as he, and the other members of the Justice League, stepped into the transport ship. The back end of the ship slammed shut and the engines started to roar. The ship lifted off and left into the sky.

Dick was focused on the ship, and he didn’t see Batman and Barbara up until they were right in front of him. He jumped slightly when he noticed them, causing Kori to giggle slightly.

“Batgirl and I are heading back to Gotham, Nightwing. Do you need a ride?” Batman asked gruffly.

Dick paused before answering. Gotham had been his home for several years, but he had just rediscovered being part of the Titans. More importantly, he and Kori were together again, and he didn’t want to take any risks at all with that.

“I think I might stay with the Titans for a while, B. I’m sure you can handle Gotham,” Dick said.

“Okay. Good luck, Nightwing,” Batman said, nodding slowly. He was about to leave completely when he stopped and turned back. “Tell Spoiler that I am impressed. I look forward to seeing more from her.”

Dick grinned and gave Batman a thumbs-up. Batman walked away. Barbara stopped for a moment. Kori caught the hint and walked away to talk to some of the other Titans.

“I’m glad that you’re happy, Dick,” Barbara said.

“Thanks, Barbara. I’m sorry I wasn’t the best,” Dick said, “But I’m still your friend. You need anything, I’m just a call away.”

Barbara nodded, and held out her hand. They clasped each other’s wrists and nodded, an unspoken understanding passing between them. They would be friends forever, no matter what else happened.

Barbara released his arm and walked away with a wink. Dick watched her join up with Batman and hop into the Batmobile, which had been parked off to the side outside of Dick’s vision. Content that they were gone, Dick walked over to Kori.

She was talking to some other Titans. Dick didn’t interrupt, putting an arm around Kori. She leant into him, continuing her conversation. Dick felt fulfilled for the first time in a while. The world was saved, and a major threat was gone. Everything was at peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG!!!!!!! THANK YOU ALL FOR READING!  
> I am going on holiday for awhile but when I come back I will start working on the sequel, which will feature more Dick and Kori, more Steph, more Barbara, and the added spice of Red Hood.
> 
> Comments and Criticism are welcome and appreciated.  
> Thank you so much for reading!


End file.
